


An Apparition of Autumn

by Just_Will



Series: Haunting the Seasons [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Action/Adventure, American Football, Art, Bisexual Male Character, Bugs & Insects, Declarations Of Love, Drama, Fluff and Humor, High School, Jealousy, M/M, Motorcycles, Pansexual Female Character, Spiders, Swim Team, Swimming Pools, Unwanted attention, You'll see that later on, arachnids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-05 07:18:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 101,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5366219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Will/pseuds/Just_Will
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Danny fall will be a time of great change from his status at school to his lineup of villains.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Final Days

**Author's Note:**

> Fall is the season of change, and a lot is going to change for Danny and Dash. People are going to start seeing Danny in a new light and Dash is going to branch out and grow more as a person. There's a lot that's going to go on and a lot that needs to happen and these two have until November to get everything done.

As the sun reached its peak two teens took refuge from the blistering mid-August heat inside a garage. Danny was hard at work on his custom bicycle tuning it up and making sure everything was in working order while his boyfriend sat on a stool doodling him work. With school fast approaching the two spent as much of their free time hanging out together as they could, not knowing how their schedules and classes would line up when they finally started.

“So you get signed up for your classes and everything ready?” Dash asked over the slight clicking noises of Danny tightening a bolt with an socket wrench.

“Yeah,” Danny grunted as he pulled himself out from under the bike, “Algebra III, Government, Automotives, physics, Home Ec, Literature, and my mom made me sign up for pre-calculus; says I’ll need to learn that sort of stuff if I ever want to design bikes and do stuff like this one day.”

“You have two math classes?” Dash chuckled and wiped his forehead of sweat. It was a hot day and even in just a tank top and shorts he was still sweating, “You hate math though, and you always said you stink at it.”

“Yeah well she has a point, I will need to learn more math if I want to go into this sort of stuff. I can learn it though even though it will never likely be my favorite subject.” Danny got off the ground and rubbed the grease and oil off his hands with a shop rag.

“What about you though? What classes are you taking?”

“Anatomy because of my mom, lit., government, geometry, weight training for football, chemistry even though I’m no good at it, and…” Dash rubbed his hand through his hair that Danny noticed was getting a bit longer than he’d seen him wear it, “I decided to take art as my elective and maybe start building a portfolio.”

“Dash that’s great!” Danny walked over and gave the larger teen a hug, “Are you sure about this though? I’ve heard a few things about the art teacher we have and I hear she’s a no nonsense type of person, and can be really critical about her students’ work, not to mention a bit mean at times.”

“Ehh, it’ll be fine, worse comes to worse I just won’t do well in the class,” Dash shrugged as he returned the embrace wrapping his arms around the slightly shorter teen’s waist, “It’s an elective, it doesn’t count towards my GPA as much, but I’m sure I can handle it.”

“You should still do your best though-”

“And I will,” Dash interrupted, “I’m just not going to go into this expecting an easy A or whatever and then be majorly disappointed when I get a bad grade on something I worked really hard on.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll do fine regardless.” Danny smiled as he pulled back, “But for now let’s go inside, you’re all sweaty and I could use something to drink myself.”

“Yeah, it is a bit hot out here,” Dash groaned as he followed his boyfriend inside, “I don’t know how you can stand it in those overalls of yours.”

Danny looked down at the soiled garment he wore to keep himself from getting his clothes dirty or damaged and smirked, “Well ice powers are always helpful in staying cool.”

With a deep breath Danny let out a cold blast of air at Dash who shivered at the frigid temperature he was suddenly hit with.

“Ice breath, super strength, able to fly… If I didn’t know better I’d say you were actually Superman and ask if you were really an alien.”

“Well I’m not invulnerable and I don’t have X-ray vision so I’m not exactly like him,” Danny smirked.

“Yeah but you can also shoot lasers from your body,” and with that being said the taller teen sat down at the kitchen table as Danny handed him a glass of water.

“Okay, okay,” Danny laughed and sat next to his boyfriend with his own glass of water while giving off some of his ice powers to cool the other teen down some more, “I get the point, you are still getting used to the fact your boyfriend has super powers.”

“Uh… speaking of ‘boyfriends’…” Dash gulped nervously and looked at Danny who stared back curious as to what was going on, “Uhh… how do you want to handle school and being a couple?”

Danny pondered that for a few minutes going through things in his head. On the one hand it would be great to be out and open with their relationship, but on the other hand it could draw unwanted attention to them.

“I dunno, honestly,” the teen ran his hand through his dark hair, pulling it back and tying it into a short ponytail, “I mean it’d be great to be out and open about our relationship and everything, but are you sure you’re ready for people to know? I mean I don’t have any real friends around here anymore but I know you’ve got a lot of people who like you not to mention your team, and what if it gets back to your parents before you tell them?”

“I hadn’t thought about that,” Dash said and Danny felt his heart break at how sad and dejected he looked at that moment.

“Hey…” the shorter teen reached up and ran his fingers through the blond locks of the other and pulled their foreheads together, “Don’t worry so much about coming out, just enjoy the fact we have each other. When you’re ready to tell your parents then we can deal with school and our classmates.”

“I know, I just had these stupid fantasies where I’d get to hold your hand walking down the hallway, kiss you before you go to class, and all of that mushy junk that couples do.”

“Yeah, I know how you like your romantic dramas,” Danny teased and Dash turned his head away from the grinning teen refusing to be embarrassed despite the blush rising to his cheeks.

“I like them for the plot,” he grumbled causing his boyfriend to laugh good naturedly.

“I know, I know, don’t worry you’re still the most macho guy I know,” Danny smiled and kissed Dash’s cheek when he wouldn’t look back at him.

“Hey,” he rubbed his hand through the blond hairs and waited until Dash looked back at him, “We’ll come out whenever you’re ready, just know that whatever happens I’ll stand by you.”

“Thanks.”

“And you know…” Dark eyebrows wiggled suggestively as Danny started to pull back, “Not having anyone know about us means we have to be sneaky and careful with our relationship. The danger of being discovered will make it all the more thrilling.”

“I’m starting to think you might just be an adrenaline junkie, Danny,” Dash said as he rolled his eyes.

“I frequently risk my life in battles to preserve the harmony between the Ghost Zone and Human World, ride a motorcycle, and have picked fights with beings with centuries more experience than me. Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Is it too late to call this relationship off, I feel like this isn’t going to be good for my health,” Dash teased.

“Yep, waaaaay too late for that, Dash, besides if we broke up who would you get to make out in the janitor’s closet with?”

“Uhg, there is no way we are ever doing something like that, that’s for freshmen and kids in the 8th grade.”

“Oh yeah I forgot as a jock you’d want to make out in the locker room wouldn’t you?”

“Uhg gross,” Dash shoved Danny back into his seat looking slightly disgusted, “I’ve seen what goes on in locker rooms for years, why would you think I’d want to do anything intimate or romantic in a cesspool like that?”

“Well it’s in a lot of the stuff that Sam has sent me. I thought it might have been a popular fantasy for jocks like you.”

“What does she- You know what, I don’t want to know,” Danny laughed at the scrunched up face Dash made before he looked at him, “Speaking of fantasies though…”

“Yeah…?” The smaller teen suddenly became more serious at the tone Dash used, like maybe he wouldn’t like what the other was going to say.

“Before we started dating, and after I learned you were building your own bike I had this little idea of how you’d ride up to school one day looking all cool and dangerous wearing your helmet and gear to keep your identity a secret until you parked somewhere up front. Everyone would be looking at you and admiring the looks of the bike and the girls would be staring at the bad-boy that just pulled up. Then when you had most of the school’s attention you’d park and turn off the bike drawing out the suspense as long as you could before you took off your helmet and showed everyone who this cool motorcycle driving guy really was.”

“Sounds like you want me to turn a lot of heads and impress a lot of people,” Danny smirked.

“Well it’s more like I want people to see how cool you really are. I mean I thought you weren’t anything special during our freshman year but after getting to know you I’ve realized how crazy awesome you really are and I just want other people to know that too.”

“So in other words you want everyone to see how cool your boyfriend is even if we can’t be open about it yet?” Danny asked sounding more smug than he should have.

“You’re special and great and everyone should know that, that’s all,” Dash blushed at saying such a thing out loud and Danny couldn’t help the blood rush to his own cheeks. Danny liked to tease and make Dash blush but sometimes the big guy could say just the right thing to make him feel like his stomach was trying to do cartwheels.

“T-thanks, Dash,” Danny managed to spout out and slid his arm around the jock’s shoulders. It was nice being like this with him. They weren’t sappy and all loving acting like he had always thought couples were, but were more real like he’d seen his parents. They were more than just boyfriends, they were true friends; the kind that held you tight when you were afraid, who laughed at you when you did something stupid, who talked about their dreams and encouraged you to follow them. The only difference between his relationship with Dash and his relationship with Tucker was that with Tucker, sure he’d do all that for Danny, but Dash would do it for him now too, as well as kiss him sweetly, touch him more intimately, and be there for him in the romantic aspects that someone who was ‘just a friend’ couldn’t.

It might not have been what most people thought of when they heard the word ‘relationship’ but in Danny’s mind the fact his new friend was also his boyfriend made it seem better. It made the idea of their approaching senior year feel all the more special, knowing he was going to go into it with someone like Dash. He was the kind of person, Danny realized, who could have his back in a street fight and then later curl up with to a stupid action movie that they could zone out to. It may not have been what he had ever originally thought he’d have in life it was somehow even better than anything the young teen could have ever come up with.


	2. Fantasies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all have dreams and scenarioes we'd like to act upon in our lives. Dash has one such dream, and thankfully Danny is more than willing to help fulfill it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all are perves, I just know y'all are. I know what you're thinkin' and I know with how I wrote it that's exactly where your mind should take you but that doesn't excuse the fact that it did.  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Does it? Eh to heck with it, read on and enjoy. Hopefully the next part won't take me so long to post up.

The first day of school, for most of the teens of Casper High it was a day of mixed emotions. Many were somewhat glad to be back in order to see their friends again, but for most it was a dreaded day that meant they would be slaves to the education system again. For one young teen, though, he was more eager for a performance that was going to take place than anything and had a good front row seat by the entrance to the school that faced the parking lot.

“Hey, Dash!” A sudden arm slung itself around the jock’s shoulders right before the face of his best friend came into view.

“Hey, Kwan, you seem awfully chipper today.”

“It’s the first day of school, my friend,” the Asian teen sighed dramatically, “And while it may be the time that we have to be forced to learn a great deal of information we don’t want to nor need to learn it is also a time when great change can happen. That homely flat chested girl you saw in May could come back a gorgeous babe with great curves come August. That nerdy long limbed dork that got shoved around on his last day? Why come today he could be muscular, handsome, and have a great butt.”

Dash just glared at his friend as he wiggled his eyebrows. He knew that he was talking about Danny and was trying to get a rise out of him but he wasn’t going to fall for it. Besides being teased by his boyfriend put warm feelings in his stomach, being teased by Kwan just made him feel like smacking the guy on the back of his head.

“Yeah, I guess that’s one way to look at it. A new year, a new chance of reinventing a new you. Me on the other hand…” Dash smirked as he heard an all too familiar roar rumble from nearby, “I’m more excited about the show that’s about to start.”

“Show?” Kwan looked at his friend confused for a moment before the sounds of a motorcycle got closer and he looked up to see a bike that was quite familiar to Dash pull into the parking lot. The figure riding the bike was completely covered giving no real indication to anything. Race, creed, social status, all these things were hidden by the garments that the rider wore. The only indication to his gender being the strong looking upper torso wrapped in a tight grey shirt that lacked any typical feminine features under a deep brown riding jacket.

The rider’s head was covered by a black helmet and tinted visor and he even wore full gloves to obscure even the last bit of skin. From his head to his feet the rider was covered in gear that made him look like a seasoned biker, and it gained the attention of most everyone still idling around the parking lot waiting for classes to start. Even a few of the teachers that were making their way to their rooms stared curious at this newcomer, most likely wondering if it was one of their peers possibly having gone through a mid-life crisis.

Once the biker rolled into a space reserved for bikes and moped like devices he made a bit of a show reving up the engine again. If there was an actual reason for doing this, Dash didn’t know but it did work in gaining the attention of just about everyone there as the engine started to wind down. There had never really been a student or teacher of Casper High to ride a motorcycle so it wasn’t a surprise that everyone continued to watch as the key to the ignition was turned off and the biker got off.

If Dash could have choreographed the next scene, he would have played some cliché jazz or rhythmic music with a lot of bass to accompany what everyone saw. With the bike firmly situated the gloved hands reached up and pulled off the helmet that was almost teasingly slow. It took only a moment but the anticipation at this reveal had most of the students on edge and as it finally came off Dash saw a lot of jaws drop open in surprise as it revealed that former loser: Danny Fenton, under the helmet with long hair and a clean face.

Danny to their plan paid no heed to the people watching him and acted like he couldn’t tell that dozens of people were watching him. He shook out his hair a bit and ran his hands through the dark locks to fluff it up a bit before he reached back and tied it in a low pony-tail with a hair band he pulled from his wrist. After that he pulled out his book-bag from one of his side compartments and slung it over one shoulder with his helmet tucked under the other arm.

With a flick of his wrist, Danny spun his keys and walked towards where Dash and Kwan were standing. The blond jock just put on a cocky smirk as Danny got closer and the other teen kept his gaze until they were only a few feet away.

“Fenton.”

“Dash.” Danny stopped himself from taking another step and looked at the other.

“Nice bike. Yours?”

“Thanks, and yep, custom made.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah.” And with that he walked past Dash and into the school to get to his locker and put his helmet away before class. Neither spared the other another glace back at each other playing the roles they had talked about earlier. Looking out at the students and teachers that were all gawking at where Danny had just entered Dash took a quick inventory of what he saw before he started to make his own way towards his first period with Kwan hot on his heels.

“Dude…!” Kwan pulled him back and out of the way of students that might have heard them, “Did you two really come up with that idea?”

He didn’t say anything to his friend’s question which was more confirmation to him than an actual answer and he just covered his mouth to block out some of the laughter that was trying to pour out of him, “Man, that was crazy!   I saw like 20 girls making goo-goo eyes at him and I’m pretty sure I saw a few guys try to hold their books over their laps.”

“Oh come on it wasn’t that good,” in truth Dash had noticed a lot of girls blushing when Danny had taken off his helmet and saw a guy blush too but it wasn’t anything blatantly obvious, “It was just surprise at seeing Danny pull up on a motorcycle is all. No one here would have ever seen that coming and they’re just surprised by it.”

“Surprise nothing,” nothing could hold back the laughter now from the Asian jock, “That was some sexuality questioning stuff out there, dude. I mean I was joking that first time about asking Fenton out and all but after all that… man if he wasn’t already taken I’d take a shot.”

“Ok, I’m biased when I say he’s good looking and attractive but he is not the kind of guy that even straight guys would fall for, Kwan, cool it with the hyper exaggerations.”

“Fine, but still I stand by what I said, Fenton has grown into some prime material. Best keep a close eye on him, I know how you two want to play things here at school but that doesn’t mean that other girls won’t try to get their claws into him. I doubt any guys would be because I don’t think anyone is actually out here but that’s another matter entirely.”

“Your concern for my relationship is touching, Kwan, truly, but it’ll be fine, we trust each other and we’re not going to go crazy over some petty little problems like someone hitting on the other.”

With that being said the pair of friends headed off to their respective first period classes which Dash actually looked forward too. With their varied interests and direction in schooling the blond only had two classes that were the same as Danny’s and it was only through some large amount of luck that they both had their 7th period literature together as well as 1st period government together.

Walking into the small typical sized classroom Dash was surprised to see that Danny was not only already there but was surrounded by several attractive and attentive girls that were encroaching on his personal space. The poor guy was just sitting at a desk in the corner while several of his female peers stood around him, asking him questions, and sitting on his desk trying to make themselves appear more appealing than the others. They had either likely seen Danny pull up on his bike or had heard about it from a friend and were now trying to get in his good books to get a ride on it with him.

It was beyond shallow and pathetic to Dash but he could see where they were coming from. Riding on the back of that bike with Danny steering them around the streets, darting about between other vehicles; it stirred something deep inside him to be a part of it. After a ride he often had to take a cold shower to ease the excited tension he got from it all, but it never stopped being exhilarating beyond belief.

Taking pity on his boyfriend, and not liking how some of those girls were almost trying to sit in his lap Dash walked back towards Danny and smirked at him, “Hey, Fenton, anyone sitting in this seat?”

“Huh?” Danny looked over at the seat next to him and shook his head, “Oh, Dash, yeah, I mean no. No one is sitting there. You can sit there if you want.”

“Thanks,” he smirked as he took his seat right as the bell rang and their teacher came in telling everyone to take a seat. After introducing himself the teacher started to hand out the syllabus and talk about what they would be studying over the course of the semester. Of course once he started talking everyone past the second row of desks started to tune out whatever he said, not deeming anything he was talking about to be important.

“So…” Danny whispered to keep from drawing attention to themselves, “Did your little fantasy go as well as you had hoped it would?”

“It went even better than I thought it would,” Dash smirked, “Kwan said he saw 20 girls giving you the bedroom eyes look and even a few guys ‘covering up’ what they really thought of you, if you catch my drift.”

“Geeze, Dash…” Danny ran his hand through his hair, embarrassment rising to his face, “I am not that attractive or hot. I still can’t believe I actually managed that whole scene without screwing up and looking like an idiot.”

“Well I thought you did great, you looked totally cool, and…” the jock looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them before he leaned in close, “I think you had a great mix between innocent charmer and tough stud going on there.”

“You are such a dork, Dash,” a small chuckle escaped the smaller teen as he playfully shoved the other back.

For the rest of class the pair sat and listened to their teacher drone on about the syllabus and handing out books. It was a standard first day of class and the teens knew they’d likely face the rest of their day in a similar manner.

After the bell rang they went their separate ways, agreeing to meet each other for lunch in the courtyard. For Dash lunch was going to be something to look forward to even more than just seeing Danny again. His 4th period before that was his art class and he had heard about the teacher and how mean she could be. He honestly almost dreaded going to the classroom and facing this woman, but he knew he came from better stock than that. Dash might not have considered himself the bravest guy around (he thought Danny deserved that title) but he was by no means a coward.

Walking into the large room, he saw various tables set up with four to six stools at each. The air was full of the scents of paints and old drawing supplies and the floor was covered with old splotches of paints, likely from students that had graced the place over the years working on projects. There were easels stacked up against one wall, a couple sinks with empty jars set around them, and even a kiln to use here. It wasn’t much but it was enough to Dash and he quickly made his way to an empty table to wait for the bell to ring.

“Good morning, class, this is art in case you didn’t know,” a thin older woman in her thirties started to speak as soon as the bell rang and she walked in from a room in the back that seemed to be her office, “My name is Mrs. Ruesberg and I’d like to first tell any new students that this is not an easy A class so if you’re looking for an easy A: tough. We’ll be doing a lot of projects over the course of the semester and going over a lot of art styles and history. For the advanced students you’ll get to choose your projects but for freshmen you’ll be doing the projects I assign.”

The teacher walked to the front of the room where there was a podium and glanced around at all the students. When her eyes landed on Dash she stared for a moment before she sneered and pulled out some papers before she started to hand them out. She would count out the number of kids at each table and lay down the same number of papers on the table they sat at, but when she got to Dash’s table she handed one to each of the other three kids that had joined him and then handed one right to Dash with a look that sent shivers down his spine.

“As you can see now, I have handed you the syllabus for this semester. In total there will be about 12 large projects that will be completed before the end. We will also have 5 major tests and the final at the end incorporating all the styles, history, techniques, and so on that we will be going over.”

A wave of nervousness washed over Dash as Mrs. Ruesberg talked more and went over the syllabus. It was looking like this was going to be a much harder class than he had originally thought, but looking around at some of the other kids his age they didn’t seem bothered by it.

‘Maybe I’m just over thinking things,’ Dash thought as their teacher finished speaking.

“Mr. Baxter… A word,” Dash’s head jerked up in surprise and looked as Mrs. Ruesberg walked back into her office. He quickly got up and followed after her and when he got to her office she told him to shut the door.

Once the door was closed, Mrs. Ruesberg sat at her desk and glared hard at the teen, “I don’t know why you’re in my class, and frankly I don’t care. I want you out though so I’m going to write you a note to go see the counselor to get your schedule changed.”

Dash blinked shocked as she started to get out a piece of paper and write something down on it, “I don’t have the time nor the patience to deal with jocks wanting what they think is an easy A from my class. Art is a serious business and I don’t want to deal with your type. You think “Dogs Playing Poker” is the greatest painting ever to exist and don’t even care about art so I refuse to have to deal with you.”

“But I do care!” Dash blurted out causing the teacher to look up at him with a skeptical raise of her eyebrow.

“I mean, I do care about art and stuff. I wanted to take an art class, get some idea of the stuff and… Well I sort of heard you helped other students make a portfolio for art colleges and stuff and was hoping that you’d be able to help me with that.”

“You? Are interested in going to an art college?” The skepticism and disbelief at the very idea felt like a cold bucket of water on Dash’s head and it took all he had not to cringe at her tone.

“Yeah. I like to draw, I don’t think I’m bad at it, I’ve been doing my own comic series for a couple years now in my free time, and I think it’s something I’d like to consider pursuing. I mean just because I’m a jock doesn’t mean I’m some completely talentless two dimensional stereotype, you know.”

The teacher scoffed at this but held his gaze steadily watching him as he stood there, “Fine, you want to be in my class, I can’t actually stop you. It won’t be easy and I expect you to do your own work and complete the projects we’ll be doing this year. If you actually want me to help you with a portfolio you’ll have to do a lot more extra work in your spare time and come see me after hours a few times. It won’t be easy and I am quite demanding. Now, tomorrow I want you to bring as much of these drawings and ‘comics’ you have done here to show me. I’ll judge them and see if you should consider this as a path or not. Now go back to your seat, we start on our first lesson and project tomorrow.”

With that dismissal Dash went back to his table and pulled out his sketchpad. They still had a lot of time left for class, but Dash didn’t know anyone else there and honestly didn’t feel like socializing much after how Mrs. Ruesberg put him through the ringer like that. He just sat there idly doodling a squirrel for no actual reason for the remainder of class before the bell ring and he made his way to the cafeteria.

Making his way through the lunch line, Dash got his helping of slop for the day and made his way outside. Along the way he exchanged greetings with his teammates, some cheerleaders, and a bunch of the other cool kids each one asking him if he wanted to sit with them. He turned them all down though as he got to the courtyard where a bunch of other teens were starting to sit and eat their lunches. Looking around he saw a bunch of people sitting at the picnic tables that were set up around, but there were also a few who were sitting under the trees to better enjoy the shade.

Glancing around for a familiar head of hair though, Dash started to frown. He didn’t see Danny anywhere and he was starting to feel stupid just standing there holding his lunch tray. Taking a few steps to look around, a sudden sharp whistle caught his attention and he looked up at a tree to see what the source of the noise was.

“Hello down there,” Danny smirked and waved his hand from his perch on a tree branch.

“Just what the heck do you think you’re doing up there, Danny?” Dash couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head at the antics of his boyfriend.

“Eating a calzone, drinking some juice, and enjoying some ‘home grown’ fruits. Better than that stuff they serve here.” Danny spoke while waving each item as he said it.

“At least it’s semi-edible now. Better than that slop they used to serve and definitely better than that vegetarian mud Manson made them serve freshman year.” Dash smirked as he took a seat under the tree branch Danny was on.

“Still has nothing on my home-made stuff,” and honestly Dash knew that beyond true. Danny was a great cook and would often have something of his to eat when he went over to hang out with him these days. Every time he ate something his boyfriend had prepared the jock was reminded of that old adage of a way to a man’s heart being through his stomach and he sometimes had to wonder if Danny thought the same thing.

“Whatever, you going to sit up there all through lunch or you gonna come down and eat with me?”

“Well while the view up here is nice… I guess I don’t want you straining your neck looking up at me through lunch,” Danny smirked down as he gathered his things and jumped the ten or so feet down to the ground, landing in a crouch before standing back up. He was smiling as he looked at Dash but it quickly feel as he took in the features of his face, “Art teacher give you a hard time already?”

“How-?” Dash let out a sigh and finally sat down on the ground to start moving bit of some food around, “That obvious huh?”

“You just look stressed and tense,” sitting down next to his boyfriend Danny looked at him concerned, “You wanna talk about it?”

In all honesty, Dash didn’t want to talk about it at all, but knew Danny would at least listen and let him vent some. He told him about how harsh and demanding the art teacher had been going on to tell about how she wanted to see his work. It made him nervous to think about showing things he had worked so hard on to someone who had obviously already made up her mind about him.

“You don’t think she’ll be fair in judging your work?” Dash nodded and glanced up to see the shorter teen munching on some blueberries. It was strange really, Dash was still a few inches taller and several pounds heavier than Danny but at times like this he felt like he was the smaller one.

“Well… hopefully she’ll be fair with your work and honest, but if worse comes to worse…” Danny leaned in close with a slightly mischievous look in his eyes, “I know a few ‘friends’ who would be willing to make her life difficult for you.”

‘Friends’ being a code-word for ‘ghosts that would haunt her room and scare her’. Dash chuckled at that thought but shook his head. He didn’t want to resort to petty acts like that just to get back at a teacher.

“Thanks, but no… let’s not use your ‘friends’ to do things like that.”

“Just offering,” Danny shrugged, “But are you going to be ok, seriously? You just look super nervous.”

“I’ll be fine, I just need to get home, get all my work together, and then get ready to have my heart torn out and shoved through a wood chipper before having the debris shot into the sun.” The jock groaned and let his head fall back and hit the trunk of the tree now feeling awful.

“You know what?” Dash looked over and saw Danny now with a determined expression across his face, “We’re going on a date tonight to help you unwind and relax. Your curfew isn’t until 10 and that gives us plenty of time to help you unwind. So I’ll be at your place around 8 to ‘hang out’ and then we’ll do something nice together.”

“You don’t have to do that Da-” Dash started to say but was quickly interrupted by a finger held up in his face.

“I don’t have to, yes, but I want to and will.” Danny closed his eyes for a moment and nodded his head, “Yep, I know just what to do tonight too.”

“And that would be…?”

“Not telling,” the shorted teen grinned and took a huge bite of his calzone officially ending the conversation for him. It was crazy sometimes for Dash to look at this guy and think of all the heroic things he had done and realize he could still be a goofy teen. More often than that though, he wondered what he ever did to deserve someone as great as him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending on a sappy note. Well a first day of school is over and for those of you not a part of the "wondrous United States Educational system" that means there's 179 days left to go.  
> Note: I was being sarcastic when I said 'wondrous' our schools tend to suck  
> Second note: please leave comments, critiques, any errors you may spot so I can get better and improve.  
> Third note: I have another Phantom story that I'm working on that I'd like some prompts to, check out my main page for my tumblr info and take a look at what I've got going on.  
> Fourth note: Hope everyone has a happy holiday season and I'll see y'all in the new year.


	3. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some boys being boys and running around in their underwear...  
> Not as dirty as it sounds!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing is hard and slow and loooong... I'll try and post more here but I've got other ideas that are now taking up room in my mind. Comments help spur me on though!

Right away Danny could tell that Dash wasn’t too thrilled with his idea of a ‘date night’. He stood looking at his boyfriend with his arms crossed over his broad chest and a frown on his face clearly unimpressed.

“Seriously?” Dash looked at him and then at the fence that enclosed the pool, “The pool closed at 6 Danny, and it’s 8:30 now.”

“Which makes it a great time to sneak in and have the pool to ourselves,” Danny chuckled as he leaned against the fence, “Come on, Dash, relaxing in the water will be great after today.”

Not letting him protest further the smaller teen grabbed his boyfriend and turned them intangible before walking through the fence with him in tow. Once through Danny had to quickly bite down on his lip to keep from snickering at Dash who was twitching and shaking a bit.

“Geeze, that always feels weird.” He shook his body some more and rubbed his shoulders like he was cold before he glared again.

“You’ll get used to it. Now come on, let’s take a dip and relax for a bit.”

“Yeah, except you didn’t tell me we were going to be swimming so I didn’t bring a suit,” Dash huffed now even more annoyed.

“You’re wearing boxers, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, so?” Dash stared at him not understanding why he’d ask that as he saw Danny pull off his shirt and sit down on a bench to untie his shoes.

“So just swim in those, no one’s around to see us and if anyone comes around I’ll just turn us invisible and fly us out of here.”

“Oh, no… I am not skinny dipping in a public pool!” Dash shook his head adamantly and Danny just rolled his eyes as he pulled off his socks and started to undo his belt.

“It’s not ‘skinny dipping’ if you’re still clothed. Now come on don’t make me swim by myself.”

Danny stood there in just his green and blue stripped boxers waiting for Dash but he just stubbornly refused to look at him. Be it because he was half naked or because he didn’t want to do this the smaller teen didn’t know but he wasn’t going to let a stubborn blond ruin a good plan.

“Fine…” Danny spoke casually as he walked up to Dash and reached up to his neck, “If you don’t want to swim I can’t make you…”

Dash turned his head to look at Danny again, cautious to his tone, “Really?”

“Yeah, I can’t make you swim… But…!” Danny grinned, grabbed onto Dash’s shirt and pants, turned both articles intangible and pulled them off, “I can take your clothes!”

With a laugh, Danny dodged his boyfriend’s attempts at grabbing his clothes back before running off with Dash right behind him shouting embarrassed.

“DAMNIT, DANNY! Get back here and give me back my pants!”

It was humorous to say the least. There they were: two seniors running around a pool in their under wear while one still wore his shoes and socks. Danny himself couldn’t help but laugh as he looked back and saw Dash chasing after him in a pair of very snug looking black boxer-briefs. It was something he could have admired for much longer but he wanted to swim so with one last sprint he pulled around a corner to the deep end of the pool, tossed Dash’s clothes up into the lifeguard chair, and dove right into the water.

The water was warm from the sunny day it had been and felt great flowing over the teen’s body. He kept his eyes closed as he cut through the water, enjoying the sensation as the water pushed back his hair before he started to make his way back up. Breeching the surface he threw his head back to keep his hair out of his eyes and then looked over to see Dash trying to put his pants back on over his shoes.

“Oh, come on, Dash, just jump in! The water feels great and it’ll help you relax.”

The blond looked up from his pants for a moment glaring and then looked back down. Danny couldn’t tell exactly what he was thinking but as soon as he saw his cheeks start to turn red he knew what was going to happen. The jock let out a huff as he fell back onto one of the lounge chairs and pulled his pants back off before getting to work taking off his shoes and socks.

“I swear, Danny if we get caught you better get us out of here,” and if it had been anyone else the grumpy look on Dash’s face wouldn’t have been as cute to Danny.

The big guy just walked over to the edge of the pool and dipped his foot in to see if the water was warm or not and the wet teen just couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face.

“Don’t worry, Dash, I’ll get us out of here before anyone can even see us. Scout’s honor.” Danny held up two fingers at his vow causing Dash to roll his eyes and smirk.

“Like you were ever a scout.” Before a smart reply could be made, Dash jumped into the pool with a decent sized splash causing Danny to float back from the waves he caused. The dark haired teen waited for a moment more before his partner emerged from under the water a few feet in front of him. His hair was plastered over his forehead dripping water into his face and before Danny could stop him he shook his head much like a dog would and brushed it back with one hand.

“Gah… Dash! I know you have ‘golden’ hair, but that doesn’t mean you can act like a golden retriever.”

“That’s for stealing my clothes like you did,” the teen smirked and then started to swim towards the shallow end of the pool, “You were right though, the water feels great.”

“Told you.” Danny grinned as he swam after Dash, letting the warm waters flow over his skin. Once in the shallow end they made their way to the steps and sat down together with the water up to their shoulders. The sun was just barely up still and the sounds of the day were slowly starting to fade away as people made their way home for the night.

“This is nice…” Dash sighed out as he looked up at the darkening sky and spotted the crescent moon that was out, “We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“Yeah… It’s nice,” Danny smiled and leaned his head on Dash’s shoulder while he reached down through the water to lace their fingers together. It felt like they were the only two people around now it was so peaceful and tranquil. After barely a minute of holding hands, Dash pulled back and wrapped his arm around Danny’s waist before letting his head lean into the darker locks.

“Feeling better now?” Danny looked up at the serene look on Dash’s face as he wrapped his own arm around him. Rubbing his hand softly up and down Dash’s side, he didn’t feel any real tension, but he couldn’t be sure what was racing through his head.

“Yeah… still nervous about how I’m going to show my work to Mrs. Ruesberg and we also start football practice tomorrow, not to mention all the studying for future tests, assignments, and just school in general. I guess I’m just afraid I won’t be able to handle it all on top of being a good boyfriend too.”

“Hey…” Pulling away a bit Danny situated themselves so that they could talk face to face, “I’ve got stuff to juggle too, swim practices, my own classes, ghost hunting, but I know we’ll find time for each other. We just have to work with it. It might be hard to find time to do things like this when school starts to pick up more but we’ll find time. Don’t worry so much, and just remember if you need to talk I’ll always be able to listen to you and help you however you need.”

“Same here, Danny, and thanks,” Dash smiled sweetly and the shorter teen reached up to run his hand through the blond’s hair before leaning forward and giving him a chaste kiss to his lips.

“You’re welcome, now let’s swim a few laps, mess around some, and have some fun. Your curfew is still 10 and it’s already nearly 9.”

With that the pair pushed off from the stairs and swam around a bit. Danny dove around and moved with the grace of a fish, while Dash swam more leisurely and just enjoyed the warm water and the cooling evening. They splashed each other some, wrestled in the shallow end, floated on their backs and admired the sky, and by the time they decided to get out it felt like any problems they might have had were washed off with the water.

“This was actually a good idea, Danny, thanks,” Dash reached over to wrap his arm around the shorter teen’s shoulder and kissed his forehead. Danny meanwhile took a second to appreciate his soaking wet boyfriend who’s underwear clung to him like a second skin.

‘If ever I had any second guesses about my sexuality,’ Danny thought to himself as he walked back towards his clothes, “You’re welcome, Dash, glad you had fun. We’ll try to do it again soon, maybe on a weekend when we have later curfews.”

“Yeah that would likely work out best, but uhh… we also didn’t bring towels and I don’t want to go home with my clothes wet.”

“No problem there,” Danny shrugged and made himself intangible to the water and let it fall right off his body leaving behind nothing but dry skin and boxers.

“Ok, your powers are like THE most useful superpowers anyone could want. If someone ever asks me: ‘if you could have any super power, what would it be’ I am definitely saying ‘ghost powers’.” Dash chuckled and waited for Danny to do the same to him.

“Yeah, they do have a lot of practical uses when it comes to things like cleaning, chores, and just getting to places,” the ghostly teen chuckled as he walked over and placed his hand on Dash’s shoulder and then smiled as he placed his other hand on the black material covering his hips causing him to jump. Before he could say anything to the intimate touch though, the water fell off of his skin and out from the material and he pulled back with a coy smirk on his face.

“Well…? You going to get dressed or are you going to walk home giving everyone a show?”

Danny threw a cocky wink at him and couldn’t help but laugh as Dash’s face turned red in the dim light of a nearby streetlamp. Sometimes it was just too easy to ruffle the bigger teen’s feathers. Regardless though Dash pulled on his pants and shirt before putting on his shoes, with Danny following suit.

“You are such a tease, I swear, why do I put up with you?” The blond grumbled as they finished dressing and made their way back through the fence.

“Oh you love it. Don’t even try to act like you don’t. Besides it gets your mind off of your troubles and you look cute when you blush like that.”

He didn’t deny that and Danny counted that as good enough for him as they started to walk back towards Dash’s house with their hands laced together. The air was cooling down from the heat of the day, it wasn’t thick or humid, and as the stars started to come out Danny couldn’t have thought of a better night. The only real problem came when they started to get towards busier streets and had to pull apart for fear of someone seeing them holding hands.

He understood why Dash didn’t want to be out yet; he fully understood fearing how your parents might react to a secret. Still not being able to even hold his hand was frustrating at times. It was a petty and small detail in an otherwise pretty great relationship though, so Danny just put the thought out of his mind, choosing instead to look up at his boyfriend and admire the strong jaw and smooth face. He idly wondered what the blond would look like with some facial hair but decided to focus more on the road as they got to the spot they’d have to split up to get to their homes.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Danny said softly, “Be sure to get all your art together and maybe we’ll have time to look over your stuff before class tomorrow.”

“That sounds good,” Dash smiled and leaned down slightly to press a kiss against Danny’s cheek, “Get home safe now, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

A small smile found its way upon Danny’s face as Dash turned to walk home by himself before he did the same. Thinking fondly about their swim and their talks, the teen walked with a light spring to his step, happy and content. He knew things were going to be okay for Dash and him, he didn’t know how, but somehow he just knew and as he strolled along he smiled letting the pleasant thought fill his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And if you want to read my "Chasing After Shadows" story and send me word prompts feel free to. I'm up for anything. That being said: these two guys are dorks. They are dorks in love and pumped full of hormones and the only thing that's keeping them from jumping the other is common sense and the fact they don't feel ready for that just yet.


	4. Patience, Practice, Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another normal day of school... maybe?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some original characters debut here and we see some more of Kwan. I just love writing him like this it's fun.

It was strange for Dash, he weighed nearly 190 pounds, had been practicing boxing for years, was the quarterback of the football team, and was dating a super hero. Yet standing in front of Mrs. Ruesberg as she examined each piece of his artwork with a critical eye he felt he might as well have been a 110 pound, defenseless, loser who had no one to stand by him. He kept his gaze on the teacher though as she continued to leaf through the papers, but secretly wished Danny, Kwan, or anyone really was around to offer up some support.

He had selected some of his best drawings and projects from the night before and this morning before class started Danny had looked through them to help thin it out some more. Kwan had helped out a bit during his second period and before third period was over Dash had everything he wanted to show ready. Now it was just a matter of letting Mrs. Ruesberg look over the drawings and tell him what you think.

“Hmm…” Dash gulped nervously as the papers were laid down and she looked up at him, “Well I have looked through everything and I have to say that it is obvious that you’re still new to working with comics, still lives, and not very good at inking and coloring pictures.”

Each word was like a knife to the teenager. His shoulders slumped and he let his gaze fall down to the floor. He had offered up the best work he had and it was nowhere near good enough.

“That being said however,” Mrs. Ruesberg continued on not paying any attention to the startled look now facing her, “You have potential. With a lot of practice you could only improve upon your style. You need a great deal of work in drawing other facial structures, not that people actually care these days about that if those computer generated movies are any indication to go by, and work on proportions, colors, and perspective, but otherwise what you have here is a very decent start to a good portfolio.”

She picked up the papers again and started to sort them out, “I can help you improve your work and maybe by the end of the year you’ll have a good enough collection of work to get you into a decent art program. I’m not going to say it’s a guarantee but I suppose anything is possible.”

“Y-you mean that?” Dash asked completely surprised by what she’d just said, “You think I could actually get into some graphic design or animation classes or whatever they’re called?”

“It’s possible I suppose,” She shrugged indifferently, “Regardless of if you ‘could’ or ‘couldn’t’ though at the level you’re at now you’d be at the very bottom of their list of acceptance. There are hundreds of people out there right now with more practice and talent than you who have a better shot, so if you want to actually pursue this you’re going to need to do a lot of work to get closer to their level.”

“I figured as much, but I’m not afraid of working hard to get what I want.” Dash spoke resolutely and with as much conviction as he could muster.

“Well that’s good to know because I plan on helping you and your final grade will be dependent upon how much you can produce in the timeframe, the quality of the artwork, and how much you’ve improved over the next few months. It’s going to be a hard class for you, but if you think you can do it I’m more than willing to help you by challenging you to the point I think you can reach,” Mrs. Ruesberg actually smiled at Dash as she spoke lacing her fingers and staring at him like a cat watching a mouse.

“Thank you, ma’am, I will do my best.”

It was all he could say to something like that and he was grateful when he was handed back his papers to go back to his seat. That had been exhausting for him but still it went better than he had expected.

“Well class, our first project for the year will be a simple one. We are going to do still life drawings,” Mrs. Ruesberg spoke as she walked up to her podium. She talked about the history of still lives and some of the most famous ones from history and modern day. It was only after a few minutes of listening to her talk that Dash saw others taking notes and quickly pulled out a notebook to follow suit.

He took notes as well as he could as Mrs. Ruesberg continued on with her lecture. After another 15 minutes of talking, though, she pulled out some books and passed them out to each table.

“So your assignment, as I’m sure you’ve guess by now, is to do a still life. BUT I don’t want just one, I want at least three still life drawings of the same subject but from different angles and distances. The subject matter can be anything you’d like so long as it follows the criteria for a still life. Bowls of fruit, vases with flowers, books, wine glasses, and so on, just pick an item and draw it three times and turn in the sketches by the end of the week. They don’t have to be inked, painted, or done to great detail. This project is focusing on speed, perspective, and composition. After I’ve examined your drawings I’ll hand them back Monday and we’ll start the next step of the project, namely finishing them in a medium of your choice such as: watercolor, ink, colored pencil, or whatever you like. The books I have lain out for you now have several examples in them, you can look at them for some inspiration and ideas but for your assignment you will have to pick out something that you can actually see from the required multiple angles.”

With that she went into a bit more criteria on what she expected: one inch borders around the paper, regular .5mm pencils only, no charcoal, no shading, and basically just the outline of their subject. After that the class was free to start looking at the books and start coming up with ideas for what they could do themselves.

“Mrs. Ruesberg is strict as ever it seems,” Dash looked up from one of the books on the table he had grabbed and saw a shaggy head of red hair peering back towards the teacher’s office, “She really should learn to lighten up some. I mean I get it that art is her passion and all but it doesn’t have to be so serious all the time.”

“Oh hush, Arnold, I think it’s nice that we have an art teacher who is so knowledgeable about art history as well as techniques,” the only other resident at Dash’s table spoke, a short girl with dirty blond hair that was kept in place with a few hairclips and a pair of stylish glasses that seemed to make her look intelligent without being nerdy.

“You’re only saying that because you like still lives and portraits, Megan” Arnold grumbled and pointed at her with his pencil before he looked over at Dash seemingly just seeing him for the first time, “What about you, huh? I bet a big guy like you prefers something else besides boring pictures of fruits, vases, and books, right? Or are you one of those dumb jocks that is taking this as a filler class and is hoping to look at the pictures of the naked women they have in some of the sculptures and ‘classics’ sections?”

Dash bristled up at that comment and puffed out his chest trying to fight down a blush at the idea of naked women in some paintings, “I’m here because I like to draw and do art and I have no interest in pictures of naked women from hundreds of years ago… Or sculptures.” The blond added with a huff and looked back into his book shocked to see that he was on a page that showed a bird with its neck broken and posed in a very macabre fashion.

“Good answer, man,” the other boy, Arnold, laughed as Dash quickly flipped to another page, “But not the answer I was looking for. What kind of art do you like?”

“Arnold here loves abstract works, mobiles, geometric models, and science drawings. You know: lazy art where things don’t have to look a certain way but if you can spin the description with enough big words people will think it’s great.” Megan scoffed but had a kind smirk on her face.

“But that’s what makes it so great!” Arnold argued, and Dash had a feeling this type of scenario was going to be common at this table, “Abstracts don’t ‘HAVE’ to look like anything and yet they can still mean anything! Mobiles are great because they actually are capable of moving and you have to have some actual understanding of math and science to make them function properly, and as for the rest: art is as important to science as science is to art! Look at Leonardo da Vinci he was as much an artist as a scientist. Numbers, chemical alignment, shapes, patterns, they’re so simple but when you get down to it those simple shapes make up everything and it’s just amazing to sometimes see people take a simple shape and just by changing the colors back and forth and making them bigger and smaller can make a complex pattern that can mesmerize you.”

Megan just rolled her eyes fondly and looked at Dash over the top of her glasses, “Like I said, ‘lazy art’ but I’m sorry I guess we didn’t introduce ourselves yesterday, you seemed to be in your own world so we left you alone. I’m Megan Hills and this wonderful person here is Arnold Ferguson. We’re both seniors too in case you were wondering.”

“Yeah, I’m a senior too, and my name’s Dash… Baxter, uhh…” he rubbed his neck trying to think up something to say, “I like a lot of art, but I guess I prefer fantasy and sci-fi pictures and things… I uh… I draw comics, or try to, and I’m kind of new to this class and everything.”

“I could tell when you didn’t start taking notes immediately that you were new to this class,” Arnold chuckled and smirked at him, “And so you’re telling us that THE Dash Baxter; Quarterback and one of the most popular kids in school is into something as dorky as art and fantasy pictures huh? Man, that isn’t something I would have expected to have heard.”

“What he _means_ to say is: welcome to art class and if you need any help with anything let us know and maybe we can help.” Megan smiled and Dash suddenly found himself liking these two for some strange reason. They flipped through the books they had on their table, pointing out certain pictures they liked and putting together ideas for their projects. By the time the bell rang Dash had already started to think up ideas on what to draw for his assignment.

“Hey, Dash!” Looking up from his musings as he stood in line for his lunch, the jock saw his best friend approaching him with a wide grin on his face.

“Hey, Kwan, havin’ a good day?”

“Yeah, though I’m looking forward to football practice this afternoon. I’ve got a lot of energy today and I want to burn it off.” Kwan spoke excitedly as he picked up a tray and got his slop and grimaced, “And to burn off… whatever this is… Gravy?”

“If you use a very loose definition of the term: sure?” Dash shrugged as he looked at the bubbling grey brown concoction that was poured over what might have been over cooked rice or underdone bread. After not knowing what else to make of it they got a helping of some chicken that looked like it had been grilled of any flavor and started to walk outside.

“So you eat outside now?” Kwan asked as he stepped out into the bright sunny day.

“Danny and I like to eat out here, gives us some privacy and space to just talk and hang out.” It wasn’t a big deal to Dash and so far no one had commented on it, but he did wonder if anyone was starting get curious about them hanging out now.

“How are things going with you two, by the way? You’ve been hanging out a lot and I hardly get to see you anymore,” Kwan pouted mockingly before he laughed and nudged his friend with his elbow, “You gettin’ any yet and if so… Who’s pitching?”

Dash just about dropped his tray and stared with eyes wide as hubcaps at what his friend said tried to make its way through his brain.

“W-We aren’t… It isn’t… That’s not…,” his face started to glow red from both anger and embarrassment before a thought suddenly occurred to him, “Uhh… pitching what though? Like… ‘pitching a tent’?”

This time Kwan stopped and stared at his friend as he whispered his question. He blinked once, then again, and then burst out laughing so loudly that several people turned to see what might have been so funny.

“Oh… Oh my God… Dash… Just… Just wow…” Kwan settled down and had to wipe away a few tears that had gathered from him laughing so hard, “I am going to HAVE to set you up with some information, because that was way too damn funny.”

“What?! What did I say that was so funny?” Dash huffed indignantly.

“Never mind I’ll tell you later,” Kwan smirked and looked around some, “So where’s your new best friend? I don’t see him anywhere?”

Dash looked around as well and then sighed feeling like he knew where the dark haired teen might be, “I think I might know… c’mon.”

They walked towards a few of the trees for a second before Dash lightly knocked his elbow into Kwan to get his attention, “And just because me and Danny have a close relationship now, doesn’t mean you aren’t my best friend still, Kwan. You’ll always be my best friend. I couldn’t find anyone to replace you.”

“I know, Dash, I know.” Chuckling softly the pair stopped as Dash looked up into a tree and spotted a familiar body. Said body was reclining against the trunk of the tree with a bag hanging off one shoulder and one leg dangling off the side, looking as content as a cat lounging there.

“Seriously…” Dash called up to the teen looking a mix between annoyed and amused, “What is with you and sitting up in trees?”

“I like high places,” Danny glanced down and shrugged, “Gives me a good vantage point to see everything.”

“Well get down here so we can talk to you and try to shovel this slop they call a meal into our stomachs!” Kwan called up smiling.

“Oh I dunno, I think I’d rather stay up here and enjoy my Italian sausage penne with its tomato vodka sauce where the smell of that slop can’t reach.” Danny grinned cockily and held up some Tupperware that had the mentioned meal. It looked wonderful compared to what the two jocks had on their trays, and Dash’s stomach instantly started to rumble at the sight causing both the others to look his way.

“Jealous, Baxter?” The teen in the tree asked playfully.

“I hate you.” Dash just grunted and sat down on the grass as Danny made his way down the truck and Kwan sat next to him.

“Guys who hate me don’t get to try out these new mini quiches I made…” the singing tone Danny had made Dash look up at another container the guy had pulled out from his bag. In it were small pie like concoctions that looked to have some kind of creamy center and cheese on the top.

“Okay now I really hate you.” The blond jock just groaned as he poked at the brown gunk that was his lunch and started to just shovel it in.

“You love me and we both know it,” The remark was said teasingly but they both locked eyes for a moment before they turned away with a blush starting to cover their cheeks.

“Not to be a third wheel here… but I don’t hate you at all,” Kwan grinned and then held out his hand with wide almost begging eyes.

“Oh don’t even try the puppy dog look, Kwan, you are too big to try pulling that off.” Danny rolled his eyes and handed over one of the quiches to the teen before he sat down himself and gave another to Dash.

“I’ll have you know a lot of the girls I’ve dated find me to be absolutely adorable when I do that,” He smirked as he sniffed the small treat and eyed it appreciatively before taking a bite of it. He munched it around for a moment tasting the flavors of the cheese vegetables and meat in it before his eyes went wide and he swallowed. Both of the others stared at him for a moment before the Asian just put the quiche down and grabbed Danny’s hands. Looking over at Dash confused the blond just shrugged and wondered what was going on while he took a drink of his orange juice.

“Daniel James Fenton… Marry me.”

A spray of juice from Dash followed by a series of coughs were the only sounds to come from the group for a moment before he reached over and slugged his friend in the arm.

“Kwan! What the hell?! You aren’t gay!”

“No, but if it meant eating food like this every day I’d certainly consider taking a trip to the other side of the fence. Heck I wouldn’t mind him being the top in the relationship if it meant eating stuff this good!”

“Oh my god…” Dash looked over to see Danny hiding his face in his hands, now the picture of the self-conscious teen he knew he could still be at times, “Why are you friends with this dork?”

“Sometimes I wonder myself,” rolling his eyes he took one of the offered quiches and ate it quickly ignoring the over the top hurt look his friend was giving him. It was indeed pretty good and although he had no idea what to call all the flavors and tastes that were in it he still was able to tell Danny how much he liked it.

“Thanks, it was the first time I made anything like this so I’m glad they came out so well.”

“Speaking of things you made well,” Dash sniffed at the container Danny had his penne in, “You said that was a tomato sauce with vodka in it? How’d you get a hold of that? I didn’t think your parents drank.”

“Oh they don’t, well dad will have a beer sometimes during a football game if he’s over at Vlad’s house, and they’ll drink a glass of wine during a romantic dinner, but yeah I didn’t get it from them, I got if from Vlad. He drinks and entertains guests sometimes so he has a good collection of stuff so I was able to use some of his stuff for the recipe. The alcohol cooks out from it though but it just seems to enhance the flavor.”

“Maaaaan…” Kwan smirked and gently elbowed his blond friend and lowered his voice considerably, “You’ve sure got yourself a good one, Dash. I mean he can cook like this, he knows food and his way around an engine? He’s a catch.”

“K-Kwan!” Both other teens blushed at the Asian’s bold statement and couldn’t look at each other for a moment before they fought down the blush.

“You guys are just too easy to tease. I swear.”

“If I give you a bite of my penne will you please stop with it?” Danny groaned and Kwan nodded like a little kid and opened his mouth for a bite. Dash just about wanted to take off his sock and shove it in his friend’s mouth in retaliation for all the things he’d been teasing them about but held back as his boyfriend shoved a forkful of noodles and meat into his mouth.

“And what about me?” The blond jock didn’t want to sound petulant or grumpy but this was his boyfriend and he should be getting fed. Especially when his food consisted of something that had by now changed to a dingy grey color and Dash was almost certain he saw move.

“Good grief, I’m not even 18 yet and I already have two kids I have to feed,” the dark haired teen sighed and gave Dash a bite as Kwan swallowed his and gave an almost orgasmic sounding moan.

“God, Danny, I’m almost serious about wanting to marry you if only for your cooking…” He moaned again causing Dash to roll his eyes even though what he was tasting was something that was exploding in his mouth with flavor. Kwan may have been going over the top about everything but he certainly wasn’t too far off about how great the dish was.

“Well sorry, Kwan, but I’m taken and I don’t plan on breaking up with them any time soon.”

The wink Danny sent Dash caused him to blush a bit happily and the trio sat around and talked amiably as they ate. It was a nice precursor for the rest of the day and by the time their seventh period class was over the jock was eager for some exercise on the football field.

“So you wanna come watch me practice? Probably running drills, practicing catches and throws, and getting back into shape for the season, nothing major.”

“Well since you watched me practice all summer I suppose I can return the favor. Especially since I doubt you’ll come to my swim practices now that they start at 5:45 every morning.”

“Geeze, how do you stand waking up so early for that?” Dash groaned as they continued on to the field room where Dash could get changed.

“You get used to it I guess, plus with my abilities I’ll be able to get there in like 2 minutes so I can at least sleep in until like 5.”

“Uhg, I do not envy you in the slightest.” The larger teen shook his head and headed into the locker room to get changed. Inside were several guys in various stages of dress and undress getting ready for practice. With his own gear in hand Dash strolled over towards his locker exchanging high fives and fist bumps from several of the other guys who were all excited about practice today.

“Hey, Kwan, ready for Tetslaff to put us through our paces again?”

“Yeah, I’m actually excited to get back into the game, man,” Kwan smirked before he pulled off his shirt to reveal his tanned skin and a few red bumps on his neck.

“What’s up with those marks on your skin, man?” Dash sat his bag down and started to get undressed as he watched his friend.

“Man I got bit by like four mosquitoes today, no joke, and almost got stung by two hornets. The bugs are brutal today,” Kwan grunted and pulled down his pants and held up his leg that had various other bumps on them, “And look at this. Last night I was outside watering the plants and suddenly I got bit by like a dozen ants all at once! I wasn’t even near a hill though so I don’t know where they all came from.”

“That is weird…” Dash frowned concerned as he sat there shirtless for a moment and looked around at the other guys with exposed skin. A lot of them had red marks on their bodies and several were scratching at bites that they seemed to have gotten. Before he could really form a thought about things though he felt a hard slap on his back and turned around to see Frank Gordon, one of the linebackers, with his thick hand on him.

“Sorry, Dash, you had a mosquito on your shoulder, thought I’d swat it before it could bite ya.”

“Thanks, Frank, appreciate it.” Dash waved the big guy off and then turned back towards Kwan who was finishing pulling on his gear, “Seems like a lot of bug problems today, huh?”

“You’re telling me, I just hope that whatever is going on with them that it doesn’t last long. Now c’mon and hurry up, we need our QB in top form this season and he can’t get there by sitting on his butt!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m hurrying already, geesh!” Dash quickly pulled off the rest of his clothes and got out to the field right behind everyone else, ready for whatever their coach had for them.

“Alright, ladies,” Coach Tetslaff called out as they all stood waiting for orders and swatting away at gnats and mosquitoes that were flying around them, “I hope you have some bug spray to keep these stupid bugs off of you because we’re going to be out here for the next two hours running, doing drills, push ups, and just about every other thing we’d normally do. We’re going to be a great team this year and we’re not going to do that by being lazy so let’s go, ten laps around the field! Move it!”

A few of the guys grumbled but everyone still started to jog around the track that went around the football field. It was a standard warm up for the team to run anywhere from 5-15 laps before getting into the more serious training so Dash was fairly used to it after doing this since he was a freshman. Today though wasn’t as easy as it should have been, and he blamed the seemingly endless insects buzzing around them.

“GAH!” Dash swatted at a mosquito that buzzed near his ear, “If these stupid things don’t leave us alone the team is going to be get anemia!”

“While I understand you are exaggerating,” Kwan grunted and slapped at his arm where another bloodsucker had landed, “I have to agree, though it’s much more likely we’ll catch something like that West Nile virus or who knows what else from these stupid blood sucking ladies.”

“Honestly can’t wait for winter at this rate,” the blond just grumbled as he ran past the bleachers and looked up to see Danny sitting up in the corner reading from a text book. It made his heart beat a little harder seeing the guy up there with his hair pulled back and with a pencil between his lips as he held the book before he wrote something in a notebook. It was just nice to see him, there, and know that he was there for him. It made Dash feel special and happy and also like showing off for him but that could come later.

“You are so obviously in love, man, it’s almost funny.” Kwan chuckled as he ran beside the blond.

Ignoring the teasing tone, Dash just smirked and cocked his eyebrow at his friend, “Jealous?”

“Only that you get to eat his cooking, man.” He laughed and both teens continued to run around the track until they had gotten to the mandatory ten. They stopped at the cooler for some water as they waited for everyone else to finish up and wiped the sweat that had accumulated from their brow.

“You guys hear something?” Dash looked over at one of his teammates who was looking around for something, “I keep thinking I hear this faint buzzing noise but I don’t know what it could be.”

Curious to hear about this Dash looked around himself and strained his ears for any kind of unusual sounds. It was faint but he could just barely hear the sounds of something buzzing from somewhere and it seemed like it was getting louder.

“Yeah… I hear something and it seems like it’s getting louder.”

“A buzzing noise?” Kwan looked pensive for a moment, “Maybe… a chainsaw or something?”

“No… That’s not it… it’s almost like how bees sound.”

“Holy… Is anyone else seeing this?!” Dash opened his eyes and felt the blood rush from his face at the sight another guy had pointed out. At first glance it looked like it might have been a cloud or maybe some smog from a car that needed its filter changed, but after a moment the cloud started to take a more sinister shape as a swarm of insects started to head their way.

“HOLY CRAP! IT’S A SWARM OF BEES!” Dash wasn’t sure if what they were seeing really was a swarm of bees but he could tell that it was coming right at them. The buzzing continued to grow in volume and several of the other players who had spotted it stared in disbelief before starting to quickly get away only to yell out in surprise.

“What the hell?! There’s more coming from over there too!” Looking behind him, the quarterback saw that there was another large swarm of insects flying right at them.

“What the hell is going on…?” Kwan asked with a voice that may have been a bit higher than his normal baritone, “It’s like an Egyptian plague going on here.”

Dash nodded and looked around as several players that had still been running laps started to head back towards the safety of the field house. This wasn’t the strangest thing to have happened to their town in the last few years (the whole town being transported to another dimension still holding that top spot) but this was still freakish and was sending everyone into a slight panic despite nothing happening, yet.

“Everyone get back to the field house! Now!” Coach Tetslaff yelled at them and many started to immediately follow her orders. Dash looked around for any stragglers while taking up the rear and thought for a moment that they were going to be able to get to the building without any trouble but was quickly proved wrong when he started to hear several people shouting in pain at being stung.

“GAH! DAMN!” Dash yelled out in pain as he suddenly felt the sting from what was likely a yellow jacket on his neck followed by another one on his left arm. He swatted at the first wave of insects that had started to descend on them as they kept trying to run towards the building but it was apparent that they wouldn’t make it to the building in time to avoid a lot of stings.

“This is seriously bad!” Being the son of a nurse, Dash knew a few things about medicine and one thing he had learned is that while bee stings weren’t normally fatal a swarm of them stinging a person could cause numerous complications towards a person even if they didn’t suffer from allergies.

“Just run to the building, man, hopefully we’ll be safe there and they’ll leave us alone!” Kwan shouted back as they tried to fight off the swarm that was getting increasingly thicker as they ran.

It was almost like moving through a hail storm with all the insects hitting them as they ran. Dash could barely keep his eyes open without bugs flying into them and the stingers were starting to get more painful when something good finally happened.

A blast of cold ripped through the swarm and several hundred of the insects fell to the ground and shattered upon impact. More blasts made their way all around the players and finally risking to fully open his eyes Dash looked up and saw Phantom shooting out light blue colored energy blasts that seemed to be freezing the insects around.

“Hit the deck!” The voice Dash heard was a bit deeper than Danny’s normal tone, which Dash attributed towards not wanted his voice to be recognized, “It’ll be easier to get them all without everyone in the way!”

Everyone quickly dropped to the ground and moments later Dash started to feel small things start to hit his back along with a cold chill like ice being placed on his back. It did not take long either before the buzzing noise that had deafened out the rest of the noise started to fade away, leaving behind the quiet sounds of the urban streets around them. Looking up slowly Dash stared in amazement at seeing all the insects frozen solid and shattered to pieces all around them. It was creepy but at the same time a bit beautiful, all the parts that had broken laid about making everything look like fine crystal sculptures.

“Everyone alright?” Phantom looked around at everyone as they slowly started to get up and Dash was glad to see everyone nod or say that they were fine. It seemed like they’d only suffered from the various stings which weren’t life threatening.

“COACH!” Everyone turned to look at the entrance door to the field house and saw one of the players that had gotten away, “Frank got stung by one of the bees and needs his Epi but it’s locked in your office!”

“Damn it!” Tetslaff swore and turned towards the field, “I left my keys on the field, try to keep him calm and I’ll-“

“Don’t worry about the keys, ma’am.” Before she could finish speaking, Phantom grabbed hold of the large woman and flew her into the building turning them intangible to get through the walls.

Not needing any more prompting, Dash ran in with several of the other guys right behind him. Inside was a sight that was probably scarier than anything Dash had seen in his entire life, including the multitude of ghost and monster attacks that had plagued the town over the last few years. The big strong and dark skinned Frank was lying on the ground and was several shades paler than Dash had ever seen him while his lips were starting to turn an alarming shade of blue.

“OUT OF THE WAY, ALL OF YOU!” Tetslaff shouted and pushed everyone away to get to the boy and knelt next to Frank’s legs. She quickly pulled off the blue safety cap of the EpiPen and then turned it around to stab into his right thigh. There was a small click in the otherwise quiet building and after waiting a few more seconds she pulled back and watched as his breathing started to return to normal and his lips regained their normal color.

“Alright, obviously practice is cancelled for today, I need to get Mr. Gordon here to the hospital. The rest of you get out there and clean up the equipment and then head home. I’ll have an announcement tomorrow about what to do for practice. Baxter, you stay here and help me get Gordon to my car though.”

Before he could even take a step to help her though, Phantom floated in front of her and smiled, “That won’t be a problem, ma’am, I’ll just fly you both there.”

“Phantom, I will be the first to admit that I am not a small petite woman,” she snorted and then looked at Frank, “And he is no small fry either. Are you telling me you can actually fly the both of us to the hospital safely?”

“Heh, ma’am I can lift a bus. In fact I’ll put him in your car and take you both there like that.”

“Fine, the sooner we get him medical attention the better, you just better not drop us, ghost-boy.” The coach grunted in agitation, though rather it was from the events that had transpired, having one of her players nearly die, or having to rely on such impractical methods of transport Dash couldn’t tell. Regardless though he watched as Danny picked up Frank bridal style and flew out of the building with their coach right behind him. Having nothing else to do he followed his teammates outside to put up the equipment and then get home and get some ointment on his stings.

“This wasn’t normal.”

Dash turned towards his friend who was leaning down and squinting at the still frozen corpse-sicles that were scattered across the ground.

“What wasn’t? Getting attacked by a swarm of bugs or the ghost kid flying off? Because honestly, Kwan those are pretty par for the course for this town.” Dash walked over to the other jock and peered down at what he was looking at.

“No, you blockhead, look at this.” He gestured to the bugs again and picked up a few of them to hold up to Dash, “These aren’t all just one type of insect. Some of these bugs are bees, some are hornets and some are wasps.”

“So?”

“‘So’?” Kwan scoffed, “Dash, insects aren’t like people, they don’t have the capacity to ban together for anything. All these random creatures attacking us all together like this shouldn’t be possible and yet it did. It’s honestly both terrifying and fascinating.”

It was terrifying. If what Kwan said was true than this was not only a next to impossible event, but might be a sign of worse things to come. Dash remembered Danny’s last adventure during the summer had something to do with ghost bugs, but if these living insects were somehow related to that he couldn’t tell. It certainly seemed possible that the events during the summer were somehow related to these bugs attacking, but the only connection between the two were insects and that was still a stretch since there was likely a large difference between the ghost insects and those of their world.

“I think it’s more terrifying than anything personally, Kwan,” the idea that this was not a natural occurrence was one thing, having proof that this might have been some kind of planned attack was another. Either way the thought that someone or something out there might have been behind this and could be behind more attacks was frightening. Frank had nearly died because of a sting, the rest of them were hurt but otherwise fine, but the next time there was no telling what might happen. Next time someone might get seriously hurt or even die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kwan is a dork, but he is a smart dork and nothing will tell me otherwise.


	5. Front Page News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even bad news is good information to know. This applies both to Danny's ghost hunting life as well as his love life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny has had experience in dealing with a lot of things. I'll just let your imaginations go with that.

That attack had not been normal. Danny yawned tiredly as he thought about the events of yesterday’s football practice. After taking Tetslaff to the hospital with the player he had flown home to finish his homework and had then stayed up late looking up any kind of evidence or support that could have given an explanation as to why a bunch of random stinging insects would have attacked a large group of people unprovoked. Needless to say his search was fruitless.

“Hey,” Danny looked up from where his head rested in his arms and saw Dash setting his stuff down next to his desk, “You look like crap. Long night?”

“I was up ‘til 2 this morning looking through the net for any kind of information that might have explain what happened yesterday but there’s no kind of evidence about it. There’s no one out there that has any theories about insect control, no known tech that can control insects. And of course that means if there isn’t a human element involved in this…”

“Then you think it could be a ghost.” Dash whispered leaning over close to keep from being heard though no one was paying them any attention, “You think it could have anything to do with what happened over summer in the Ghost Zone?”

“That’s how things are looking,” Danny groaned and let his head fall back down to his arms, “What happened there was chaos; thousands of ghosts were displaced and hurt and had to flee from the bugs that invaded. I had hoped that since those weren’t ghost insects that maybe it was the work of a human or some freak natural occurrence but it’s not looking like it and whatever happened there has somehow moved here.”

“Just… Just how bad do you think things can get, Danny?”

“Bad,” the teen lifted his head and smiled sadly at his boyfriend, “The destruction in the Zone was awful. Undergrowth still hasn’t made a full recovery yet even after all these months. I honestly have no idea what could happen if what attacked the ghosts came here and started attacking and I’m almost afraid of what could happen, especially after what happened yesterday.”

“How is he by the way?” Danny needed a change of subject from the idea of another large threat that could cause mass destruction to his home and this seemed like a good one. He wasn’t close with any of the jocks other than Dash and so no real news had reached him about how the guy was doing. Heck Danny didn’t even know his name.

“Better, we’re not real close or anything but Kwan knows Frank better than me. Apparently he was only there for a few hours to get checked up on and then his parents came and took him home. He’s got a new EpiPen he’s been told to carry around now and should be back in school today, though the doctors told him to keep from over exerting himself for another day or so, so no practice this afternoon. If we even have any.”

“I’m sure that practice will be back on today, no need to pout,” Danny chuckled and rubbed at his face, feeling a bit better at hearing the good news Dash had for him but still feeling tired.

“You gonna be ok?” A firm hand rubbed Danny’s shoulder for a moment and the teen nodded.

“Yeah, I guess. Can’t worry about anything until I get some more information on things anyway so no since dwelling on things.” Danny reached up and placed his hand over the one on his shoulder as the bell for class to start finally rang. Dash pulled back as more kids started to walk into the room and soon enough class began.

Halfway through the period a loud shriek reached their room followed by a lot of yelling. Everyone looked towards the door while their teacher told everyone to calm down and he went to investigate. Danny, meanwhile, kept his eye on the door while everyone started to talk about what might be going on, preparing himself for any action that he might need to take.

“Think it’s a ghost?” Dash whispered.

“Always a possibility, though I haven’t sensed one yet,” and he hadn’t sensed one in almost a year at school. With most of the ghosts he knew now being his allies few others ever bothered him directly at school. This, however, seemed to be one of those rare ghosts that did not care about where they bothered him as a puff of cold air emerged from Danny’s mouth.

“And that means you have, doesn’t it?”

“Yes…” Danny sighed and then looked around, “Cover for me?”

“I’ll do my best but make no promises,” Dash smirked and Danny could only roll his eyes before slipping out from his desk and behind Dash to transform and phase out of the room.

Once outside in the halls, Danny quickly flew around invisibly looking for any signs of where the ghost he might have sensed had flown off to. The ghost didn’t seem particularly strong or malevolent though so it was hard to get an exact fix on it. Not to mention the random screams coming from all over made it very hard for the ghost boy to focus.

“AHHHH!” A new high pitched scream suddenly tore through the still hallway and Danny quickly flew towards its source hoping that the ghost was also nearby. As he turned the corner though he ran into someone and crashed into the ground.

“Ouch…” The girl groaned and then suddenly gasped, “Danny Phantom?”

The excited squeal was one that Danny had known for years now and used to wish would be directed at him more. Now though, the Hispanic accent and high pitched tones did nothing for him and as he looked up from where he had fallen on the floor Danny saw Paulina looking at him with the same wide eyed hero worship she had given him for years now while trying to straighten out her clothes from her fall.

“That would be me, miss,” Danny smiled charmingly and tried to deepen his voice to disguise it better. Dash hadn’t talked much about Paulina but knew the two were good friends and if he was going to hang out with Dash he couldn’t risk the young woman recognizing his voice.

“I heard a scream coming from this direction, I assume that was you? Is everything alright?”

“Oh, you heard that?” Paulina tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, blushing slightly, “Yes, that was me. I was just washing my hands in the girl’s bathroom down the hall when this ghost just popped out from behind the mirror I was standing in front of. We stared at each other for a moment and then he said ‘hi’ and I just freaked and screamed before running out. You’d think I’d be used to this sort of thing after all these years.”

“Don’t feel too bad, this sort of thing isn’t exactly something people can easily get used to without constant exposure. You just get back to class though and I’ll track down this ghost,” Danny smiled at the young woman but then suddenly realized something, “Wait! You saw the ghost, did you see which way it went and maybe what it looked like?”

“Oh he went down that hall after I ran out of the bathroom,” Paulina pointed down the hallway she had just come from, “He was also a bit small so you hopefully won’t have any trouble with him. He was wearing suspenders and an old fashioned hat and it looked like he had a satchel or some kind of a tote bag around his shoulder, but the moment I saw him I just screamed and ran.”

“Thanks. That’s all I needed to know.” Danny started to float up preparing to track down the ghost when a hand grabbed hold of his wrist, stopping him. Looking back Paulina had one hand reaching into her pocket while the other one held him.

“Hold on, I just want to give you my number so you can call me sometime,” She batted her long eyelashes at him and he had to fight down a blush rising to his cheeks as she pulled out some paper.

“Uh, th-thanks, but I um… ya see I’m actually seeing someone right now.” He couldn’t help stutter out as she finally let go of his hand. A few years ago he would have loved to have heard this, and actually her and not Kitty again, but he knew he just wasn’t interested in girls like that not anymore.

“Oh…” the young woman frowned and deflated at hearing that but quickly took a deep breath and tried to regain her confidence, “Well still, keep it in case things don’t work out.”

“Th-thanks, but I really hope it does work out for me… uh us that is.” The hero cringed bashfully at how he sounded and watched as Paulina started to walk away after that.

‘Oh how I wish anything in my life made sense for more than a day,’ Danny thought to himself as he started to fly off towards the restrooms to find the ghost. He tried feeling for the presence of the ghost but from what he was able to tell it seemed like the ghost had been flying just about everywhere in no actual pattern.

‘Okay if this was actually someone I knew they’d have found me already which means it’s likely some dumb ghost wanting to make a name for themselves by taking on the ‘halfa’ but if that were the case they would have caused a lot more mayhem by now or at least some damage…’ There was no other explanation that Danny could think of after another few minutes of not being able to find whatever ghost was roaming the halls.

“Maybe I should just get back to-” before Danny could finish speaking a wisp of cold air escaped his mouth and he felt the presence of the ghost nearby, “Or I could find that.”

Not wasting any time the teenage ghost flew through a few walls to where he sensed the ghost and found himself in an empty room full of computers and printing equipment. Looking around a bit more he saw sheets of blank newspaper and a bulletin board with articles tacked onto it.

“Why would any ghost want to be in the room they use to print the school paper in?” Danny looked around confused before a sudden force hit his stomach and latched onto him.

“PHANTOM!” Looking down at what hit him, Danny was shocked at the old style hat that hid the face of the young ghost that had his face buried in his abdomen.

“Headliner?” Danny carefully pried the newsboy away from him and knelt down on the floor so he could look at the blue skinned ghost boy.

“Phantom!” The small ghost panted out and tried to talk through his shortness of breath.

“Headliner, c’mon buddy, just calm down,” Danny brushed back the blond bangs that hung under his hat and tried to get the ghost to calm down, “What’s going on, why are you here?”

“I…I…I got another paper that showed the future!”

“You got a vision? What was it?” Headliner sometimes got visions of the future from the paper he pulled from his satchel. During the summer the ghost had shown Danny visions of the Ghost Zone’s future where there was wide spread destruction. Along with Vlad and several ghostly allies they were thankfully able to stop the threat but they never did find out who or what was behind the attacks or what they might have been after.

“Y-yeah, I was just playing by myself in a deserted playground when I saw my satchel glow which means I’ve gotten a new paper that shows parts of the future. When I pulled it out I saw a lot of bad things again and I flew here as fast as I could to show you,” Headliner reached into his satchel and pulled out his paper to show Danny and the image on the front page just about stopped his heart.

It was even worse than last time. Last time the paper foretold destruction in the ghost zone, but this time the image was of what was once a city, possibly Amity, reduced to rubble. The destruction was beyond anything that the teenager had seen before. Buildings were piles of rubble, streets were unearthed and broken to pieces, where houses had been only stood a few support beams embedded deep into the foundation; it looked even worse than it did in the future where he had turned evil.

“Do you know what caused this? Uh… will cause this I guess or whatever?” Danny had to take deep breaths to steady himself. The image he was seeing now was more terrifying than anything he had experienced before. This was his home, completely destroyed, wiped clean off the map, and he could only imagine the sheer number of casualties that might have amassed from whatever caused this calamity.

“The paper doesn’t give words or names, just pictures,” Headliner frowned and adjusted his strap nervously, “But there are more images in the paper this time! So maybe there’s a hint to what’ll happen.”

“Good…” Danny held his chin with his thumb while his fist covered his mouth, trying to think up a plan, “Ok, I need you to go back to Fenton Works and show this to my parents, tell them to get Vlad over there as soon as possible and give him the details. He’ll likely have an idea on what to do next with all that information. I’ll come straight home after school and we can talk strategy about this when I do.”

“You… You’ll keep this from happening, won’t you, Phantom?” Headliner asked timidly.

“You got it kid,” Danny ruffled his hat a bit which made him laugh and then floated up, “Now you get to my house, I’ve got to get back to class.”

With an affirmative nod the younger ghost flew off through a wall and Danny did the same heading back to class. Peeking up from behind Dash to make sure no one was watching, he transformed back and slid back into his desk. He hadn’t been gone but for a few minutes but still he glanced around to see if he had missed anything.

“We’ve got some assigned reading from the text while our teacher goes to talk about all that noise. Its pages 34-45 and we do the questions at the end of the segment.” Dash looked up from reading his own book with a bored expression on his face before he leaned over and whispered more quietly, “Everything go ok? Did you catch the ghost or whatever?”

Danny felt himself tense up at the question. The images from Headliner’s paper still fresh in his mind filler his thoughts and as he looked over at Dash he wondered just what might happen, how many people would be hurt, and dark hole of fear opened up in his heart thinking about if Dash might be someone who’d die in whatever upcoming attack might happen. The thoughts were a storm in his mind and it caused his heart to ache and he had to take several deep breaths to keep from breaking down right there in class.

“I’ll tell you at lunch,” Danny didn’t mean to give such a short or cryptic answer, but after what he had seen he was suddenly far to stressed to talk about it right now. Hopefully a few hours would give him time to process things some more and calm down.

As soon as the bell for lunch signaled Danny made his way out to the tree he and Dash had been eating under the last few days. The last few hours hadn’t really calmed him down any about what he saw and having some random classmates talk to him didn’t ease any of his tension. Every time someone asked him something or said hello all Danny could do was think about the paper and think about how hurt this person in front of him might get. It was almost enough to make him sick and as he sat on the ground by the tree he didn’t even have the stomach to really for more than pick at his leftover penne from yesterday.

“So I take it that whatever happened this morning still has you upset?” Danny looked up and saw Dash lowering himself to the ground with a tray of dried out fried chicken and mashed peas on his tray with some milk.

“Something bad is going to happen. I have no idea what it will be, who or what will be behind it, or if I can even stop it but it will be bad. Like destroying the whole city bad.”

“The ghost you went after today was that strong?” Dash gulped and looked several shades paler.

“No, the ghost I went after today has the power to receive visions of the future sometimes and he showed me a vision where the town was destroyed. As soon as school lets out I’m going straight home and my parents, Vlad, and I will be talking about things and hopefully coming up with a plan on how to prevent whatever it is from happening.”

“I have football practice this afternoon, but as soon as its over I’ll be right over too!”

“What?” Danny blinked up surprised at hearing that, “Dash you don’t have to come over, I mean it’s not like we’re going to actually do anything, most likely we’ll just talk and try to find some clues to what’s going on.

“I want to be involved in your life, Danny, and that means being involved in this sort of thing too. I want to be there for you after all and if things are as bad as you say I think you’ll need someone to help take your mind off of things tonight.”

Hearing the tone that left no room for argument from Dash, Danny just nodded and sighed, “Fine, I guess after we’re done talking I can make dinner for us as well. Maybe some parmesan chicken tonight if we have any thawed out still. But let’s not talk about tonight anymore, it’s going to be depressing enough later and I want to get into a good mood before having to talk about destruction.”

It wasn’t subtle but it really was necessary. The talk about the town’s destruction was getting way to heavy for Danny and he just wanted to spend the lunch period with his boyfriend and eat his lunch in peace. Sadly though fate seemed to continue to be against him as Kwan and the dark skinned football player that he had flown to the hospital yesterday started to walk up to them.

“FENTON! Not up in the tree today?”

“No, Kwan, I figured you guys’ll always come to me so I might as well just sit down here and wait for you.”

“You eat your lunch up in the tree?” The dark football player smirked.

“I try to, but these two constantly pull me down to join them,” Danny shrugged and then looked at the guy again, “Don’t we have Pre-cal together?”

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ve ever really talked though,” the big guy smirked and held out his hand, “Frank Gordon. And you’re a man who needs no introduction seeing as you come from the town’s resident ghost hunters: Danny Fenton, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right, nice to meet you, Frank,” Danny shook his hand and the two newcomers sat down with them to eat what constituted their lunch today.

“So, did the rest of you guys hear about that ghost haunting the halls today?” Danny saw Dash casually look at him out of the corner of his eye at what Kwan had just asked and simply shrugged not caring if they talked about that.

“Yeah, we heard something going on during first period. Nothing blew up though so I guess it wasn’t anything big.” Dash spoke trying to sound uninterested in the conversation topic.

“It must have been something though, I heard from a very reliable source that Phantom was going to fight it.” Frank smirked slyly as he spoke.

“And what might your ‘reliable source’ be?” Dash was curious now and didn’t seem to notice when Danny suddenly tensed up.

“Paulina, she said she ran into him when she was running away from the ghost when it popped in on her in the girl’s bathroom.”

Danny had to mentally face-palm himself at hearing that. He should have known that the young Latino woman wouldn’t keep her mouth shut about running into their school’s resident hero. It was also something that he hadn’t bothered to mention to Dash as it wasn’t very important and he hoped it didn’t look like he was hiding that information from him for some stupid reason.

“Did she now…?” Danny didn’t like the tone Dash had, it was partially curious with barely a hint of annoyance, “She say anything else?”

“Just that the ghost was small, but she did say she gave Phantom her phone number but that he told her he was dating someone already.” Frank shrugged at that and Danny almost wished that he could just die right there especially after Dash gave him a pointed look.

“Really now… Well that’s interesting.” Dash grunted out and started to eat the apple he had gotten with his lunch.

“What’s really interesting is how little I’ve seen her since she got back from her cruise.” Kwan sighed, “I don’t have any classes with her and it looks like she isn’t in this lunch period with us. Sort of blows, especially now that the cheerleaders practice inside the gym most days now I don’t think I’ve seen her for more than a few minutes.”

“Well she’s also on the swim team now so she’s also busy with that. I have two classes with her though if you want me to pass on any messages to her.” Danny perked up at hearing that not knowing that she was on the team too

“It’s okay, I’ll just text her later or something to hang out after practice is over with. Man I still can’t believe what happened yesterday.”

“You’re telling me, I’m surprised my parents even let me come to school today after what happened. My dad was super worried about another bee sting but my mom said I’d be fine. I can’t go to practice today though because I’m still a bit weak from all that nearly dying stuff and my parents want me right home after school, but they said so long as I was fine tomorrow I could go back to practice again. Also need to get a new Epi-pen and leave it at the nurse’s station and coach’s office on my way home too.”

The two jocks talked more to themselves for a few minutes seeming to forget that Dash and Danny were around and after swallowing another bite of his food the dark haired teen looked over at his boyfriend worriedly. He was frowning down at his tray of food and seemed to be a bit upset. Danny was going to ask what was wrong when he suddenly stood up and headed back to the cafeteria.

“Ehh, I’m done with this slop, I’ll see you guys later.”

“Ok, see ya, Dash.” Kwan waved his friend goodbye cheerfully and went back to talking with Frank.

Seeing as the two football players were more interested in their own conversation than Danny, he decided to pack up the rest of his food and follow after Dash. The big guy was walking slowly on ahead and the way he had his head down like he was lost in thought was a bit concerning.

“Dash?” When he didn’t respond to his name being called Danny reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, “Dash, is everything alright?”

He just ignored him for another moment as he put his tray down and walked towards the halls before he stopped and sighed. It was really starting to worry Danny how quiet he was being.

“Dash, what’s the matter. C’mon talk to me I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong or what I did?”

“Why didn’t you mention that you ran into Paulina?” Dash turned around suddenly and fixed him with a look that Danny couldn’t quite place but seemed negative.

“I… I just didn’t think it was important. Plus the whole thing with Headliner kind of freaked me out and it was just really weird.”

Dash seemed to mull that over in his head for a minute before he pulled him into a deserted classroom. Looking around to make sure they were alone he shut the door behind them and then turned to face him again.

“Are you gay?”

The bluntness of the question actually halted Danny’s thought process for a moment. He just stared at the jock for a moment while his brain rebooted and when it did he still had to run the words through his mind a few times.

“I…Just… I wa- am I... Buh…” Danny shook his head and then looked at Dash majorly confused, “Dash we are dating, I am a guy, you are a guy… I think my sexuality is kind of obvious here.”

“No,” Dash shook his head and rubbed at his face feeling frustrated, “I mean… are you gay or are you bi? Do you like girls at all in a ‘let’s get it on’ kind of way?”

“‘Let’s get it on’?” The tanned skin that Dash had took on a much redder shade after Danny repeated what he just had said, “Okay ignoring that for now because it’s not the time, but no, Dash I have no sexual interest in girls. I’ve tried but girls just don’t do anything for me. I went along with what other guys our age were doing and saying and tried to be into them but after Valerie and Sam I just had to admit that I just didn’t feel anything for them.”

“Oh…” Dash looked away and rubbed at the back of his neck looking thoroughly embarrassed, “So that crush you had on Paulina…?”

“Was just me trying to be like all the other guys, I don’t have any interest in her at-” it then suddenly hit Danny what was wrong and why Dash had acted so strange, “You think I’d dump you for her?”

Dash didn’t say anything for a moment and just hunched his shoulders looking more insecure than Danny had ever seen him, “Here in school, I’m pretty much top of the food chain. Captain of the football team, star quarterback for 3 years now, not to sound egotistical or anything but I’m not bad looking and in great shape, I can be charming, I’m strong, but… Outside of school I’m nothing. I’m good at drawing and stuff, but really I’m nothing special. I honestly don’t see why you wouldn’t just dump me to be with Paulina or any other guy. Especially after how I treated you freshman and sophomore year.”

“Dash…” The hurt look on his boyfriend’s face hurt and Danny couldn’t help himself as he reached up and threaded his fingers through the shaggy locks on the back of Dash’s head and brought him down to stare him right in the eyes, “I am not going to dump you for anyone. Especially not a girl. I thought I had a crush on Paulina when I was younger because that’s how I thought I was supposed to be, but like I said: after dating Valerie and being with Sam once I realized that girls weren’t what I was into. That being said though I still think you’re amazing. I like your art, you’re talented, and I think you are more amazing than you give yourself credit for. I like you Dash Baxter, so stop putting yourself down and thinking I’m going to leave you for ‘someone better’ because as far as I can see you’re the best person for me.”

Danny knew he was likely laying the sap on a bit thick but seeing Dash start to smile again showed him that his earnest words were the right ones. He pulled their faces together and gave the taller teen a chaste kiss on the lips before pulling back and rubbed at his neck for a moment. He had said a lot and knew that Dash would likely need a moment to process everything he’d just said.

“Thanks, Danny, I just… I just sometimes wonder why a big super hero is interested in an ordinary guy like me.” Dash shrugged and then got a contemplative look on his face like he had just realized something.

“What?”

“You said you dated Valerie.”

“Yeah…?”

“But you said you had been with Sam…” Dash spoke like he was having an epiphany but Danny was confused to what he meant, “So does that mean you two like…Ya’know?”

Danny felt his face heat up from all the blood rushing to his face. He hadn’t meant to say it like that and really didn’t mean to bring up what he had Sam had done in the past.

“Well?” Dash asked hesitantly and Danny knew he deserved an answer.

“Well, sorta?” Danny shrugged, “I mean we experimented a bit and one day thought we’d try to go a bit further than just making out and well… I managed to get her off by going down on her but I just couldn’t get it up and I guess that was when I finally couldn’t deny anymore that I just didn’t have any sexual attraction to girls.”

“You mean you went down… as in…”

“Oral, yeah, it wasn’t so bad I guess and she enjoyed it and I was glad she got off from it but I just didn’t get any satisfaction from it.” Danny shrugged and rubbed his shoulders feeling self-conscious now, though he did see Dash squirm a bit and readjust his pants a bit out from the corner of his eye.

“That’s… actually kind of hot to know, though now I really feel insecure.”

“Why do you feel like that now?” Danny turned to him fully at a loss to what he could have said this time.

“You’ve just… actually got some experience with… sex,” Dash shrugged and looked away still blushing heavily.

“You haven’t done anything with anyone?” Danny stared at him amazed at that, he had thought he would have at least experimented with another guy maybe or tried it with a girl at some point considering how popular he had always been.

“The most I’ve ever done is some heavy making out with a couple girls and I kissed a guy when I was 13 at a party while we were playing Truth or Dare.” Dash sighed and then looked back at Danny with a crocked smile on his face, “Still… the idea that you’ve actually got some experience and apparently are good at giving oral is kind of hot to think about.”

More blood rushed to Danny’s face and Dash’s face was almost the exact same shade. All this talk was more than they had ever talked about with each other. They had never even done anything more than making out without shirts on and despite seeing each other in their underwear, talking like this was giving each teen images in their minds that were better saved for the privacy of their bedrooms.

A shrill ring of the school’s bell caused both of the teens to jump signaling the end of their lunch period. Both of them laughed awkwardly for a moment before they took a step closer to each other.

“So… saved by the bell huh?” Danny grinned still with some color to his cheeks.

“Yeah, uh… I’ll see you in 7th period, okay?” Danny nodded and smiled when Dash leaned down to give him a quick kiss before he left to get to his next class.

It was nice really, having Dash around and Danny meant everything he had said. The jock really was good for him and he honestly did not think he could find a better person to be with than him. He still didn’t know if theirs was a relationship that would go past high school, but as Danny made his way to the boy’s bathroom to splash some water on his face, he sure hoped that it would last while pushing aside the dark thoughts of Headliner’s prophecy for later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teenage boys are raging masses of hormones and these two are going to be very sexually frustrated for a long time.  
> On that note: Dash got off later to thinking about Danny knowing how to do things and Danny got off just thinking about Dash naked and making him squirm.  
> There won't be any actual sexual things in this story I think. Just talk about it on occasion because: these are teenage boys.


	6. First Week Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny gets stressed and makes a bet with Vlad, time moves forward, and life continues on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been awhile I know, but I have been working on other things, other stories, and between that and life and general I got hit with a major writing block for awhile. Got stuff I'm working on but I'm still chugging along with this so don't anyone worry. I'm just slow and lazy.

There wasn’t really a lot Dash was able to do once he got to the Fenton residence, still sweaty and dirty from football practice.  Once he was let in by Mrs. Fenton he went down to the lab where everyone else was and took in what was going on.  Mr. Fenton was typing away at one of their computers while that Mr. Masters guy stood by a table examining some papers with Danny and a small blond haired ghost who floated around pointing at things.

Danny welcomed him and for a second it had seemed like he was going to come up to him, maybe to hug him, but he was quickly pulled back and forced to look down at the papers again by that Masters man.  Dash still didn’t understand the relationship the Fentons had with the man other than them all going to college together and recently becoming like an Uncle to Danny and Jazz, but if Danny let himself be dragged around then who was he to make a fuss about it.

Not having much he could actually contribute Dash walked around the lab a bit and examined a few beakers and test tubes.  He didn’t actually touch anything that had something in it but after a time he got an idea and started to gather a few things and set them up.  Placing a beaker on top of a book and filling a few test tubes with water that he set up in a stand to be set on a desk he examined them and then got out a blank piece of paper from his sketch book to draw.  He hadn’t had any time to really work on his still life assignment and while everyone was busy he might as well get some of it done. 

Just as he was starting to finish up one view of the set up he had made he started to take notice of a loud groaning that he knew was coming from Danny.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere!”  Dash turned around and watched as Danny slumped over in his seat and let his head hit the table.

“Daniel, honestly you shouldn’t give up so easily.”

“No!  No, Vlad you don’t get to say that.  We have been pouring over all the pictures Headliner’s paper has given us, we can see that there are burns on the buildings and craters in the roads and all the destruction, but we can’t actually determine what might have caused all of that without actually seeing the evidence of it.  For all we know there was an earthquake that shook the town apart here, we’re not even sure if it’s ghostly related.  It’s just more likely given where we are and who we are that ghosts are more than likely to be involved in this disaster.”

“He has a point, Vlad, we really don’t have a lot to go on and we’ve been going over all that we have for hours now.  How about we call it a night and maybe we can look over some more of it later?”  Mrs. Fenton spoke calmly trying to quell the frustration that was evident on the face of her son.

“Fine, I suppose that really is all we can accomplish for the night anyway,” Vlad sighed defeated.

“Great!  Then I’ll go get something started for dinner and start making my lunch for tomorrow too.  We’ve got rice and chicken so how about chicken fried rice?”

“Sounds lovely, Danny, do you want to use some of those frozen egg rolls you got from the store tonight as well?”  Mrs. Fenton spoke as they all started to walk upstairs again, “And Dash, you’re more than welcome to stay for dinner, especially if you still need to draw that set up you have there.  Or we can just leave it alone for you to come over tomorrow to work on.”

“That’d be great, ma’am, and I’d love to stay for dinner,” Dash smiled at the easy way the woman talked to him now.  There’d been a bit of tension during the summer when Danny and him had just started to date but after a while she started to like him and he was glad for that, “Hey, Danny, you think if I help you out some you can fix me something to eat for lunch tomorrow too?  I’m sort of already sick of that slop they serve at the cafeteria.”

“I guess you can, but why don’t you just make yourself a sandwich to take with you or something?”

“For one thing,” Dash held up a finger as he followed the others into the kitchen, “Your food is a hundred times better than anything I could make, bar none.  For another I really don’t like sandwiches too much.  I had to eat them for lunch and dinner far too often when I was younger and I honestly prefer anything else.  And lastly there’s nothing good I could take that wouldn’t either get too hot or need microwaving.”

“You could use the microwave in the teacher’s lounge.  They’ll let you if someone’s in there and you ask.  After all the teachers rarely resort to eating the slop that they serve at the cafeteria either.”

“Honestly, you boys,” Mr. Masters scoffed and looked at them with disbelief, “You talk about your school’s food like it was prison meals.  They are supposed to be healthy for you.  Just because it isn’t filled with sugar or deep fried does not make it slop.”

“Please,” Danny scoffed and Dash chuckled at the sight of the smaller teen rolling his eyes as he started to get things out, “Deep frying what they serve would be an improvement.  Covering it with sugar might actually give it some taste too.”

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating,” Mr. Masters returned the teen’s sarcastic eye roll with one of his own.

“You don’t believe us?  Come to school for lunch tomorrow and try out what we have to eat.  Five bucks says you find it as disgusting as we do.”

The old man agreed to the terms and left it at that.  The evening passed with pleasant smells and conversations about school and work amongst those gathered as Danny got everything together and once the meal was prepared and served they ate with gusto.  The rice was fluffy and buttery and the chicken was the perfect moistness.  Dash had eaten a lot of what Danny had cooked over the last couple of months but each time he bit into something he made it was like he was tasting it for the first time.  It was honestly some of the best cooking he had ever tasted before and he doubted he’d ever grow tired of it.

As the evening passed though, Dash eventually had to leave.  Danny walked him out and the quarterback gave him a quick kiss before he had to make his way out. 

The next day was nothing special until lunchtime when Mr. Masters walked into the cafeteria with Danny.  It seemed the older man was set on going through with the teen’s bet but the amused and unbelieving look he had that the food could be that bad was quickly turned into a sneer of disgust.  On today’s menu was an assortment of what might have been mashed peas or carrots and what they called meatloaf surprise, the surprise being it would be a miracle to finish it all and then keep it down for the rest of the day.  Danny however chuckled and filled up a tray for Mr. Masters and then set it before him at a table they had selected to eat at with Dash sitting right next to his boyfriend.

“Well here you go, Vladdie, time to put your money where your mouth wishes it could go, namely anywhere else but here.”  Danny chuckled and everyone was staring at what was going on.  As far as Dash knew no one knew about this guy or his connection to Danny and it wasn’t often that kids had guests eat with them, let alone seniors.

“It… it surely must taste better than it looks.”  Mr. Masters gulped and Danny just shrugged and got out a bag for himself and one for Dash that had some grilled chicken quesadillas in them.  The man glared at the dark haired teen before he took a deep breath and Dash just watched as he picked up a fork and took a bite of the meatloaf only for him to immediately gag and spit it out into a napkin.

“Oh… Oh sugar cookies that… that is awful!  They feed you children this… I don’t even want to call it food because it’d be too insulting to what actual food is!  This is unacceptable!”

Dash watched the man rant for a moment as he took a bite of his quesadilla and then turned to look at Danny who was putting on the perfect act of indifference towards everything.

“Don’t gotta tell me that, Vlad, like I said: the food sucks.  Now I believe that you owe me five bucks?”

“Forget that, Daniel!”  Vlad stood up and glared at the teen before him, “I am going to go have some very choice words with the principal and so help me I’m fixing this!  There is no excuse for such poor quality food to be fed to growing teenagers!”

With that the man picked up the tray, dumped the food into a trashcan and set it in the area for the trays to be collected before stomping out of the cafeteria.  Dash stared at where the man left before he nibbled on his food and turned back to Danny who had a brow raised and cheeks bulging with food.

“What do you think he’s going to do?”

“Dunno,” Danny swallowed a bite of his meal and chased it down with some orange juice, “Knowing Vlad though… probably something over the top, but if it has to do with the food here anything would be an improvement.”

And in Dash’s opinion it was a bit over the top, though it was a long time coming.  As it turned out over the afternoon announcements Mr. Masters had made a very large (and very tax deductible, according to Danny) donation to the school’s cafeteria in order to get them better quality meals.  Needless to say everyone was a bit surprised and shocked by the news but no one was saddened to hear that they’d be getting to eat something besides what they were used to.  After school several of the teens that had been in the cafeteria when Danny was there and seen the exchange with Mr. Masters wanted to know if he had anything to do with what happened.

Danny just simply explained that he had told his ‘Uncle Vlad’ that the food at school was awful and when he didn’t believe him had asked him to come eat lunch and see for himself.  This made Danny an instant hero for the student body and a few of the bigger guys who often had to eat the meals there or go hungry were quick to pat the smaller teen on the back and express their thanks for what they hoped was to be a good change in their diets.

“Honestly I didn’t even do anything,” Danny chuckled as he worked on his math homework down in the lab after school with Dash drawing his still life assignment again, “It was just a stupid bet with Vlad.  I didn’t expect him or even think he’d do that.”

“Well I for one will not complain about the change.  I just hope we can get some decent food there now.”

“Knowing, Vlad he likely already has a plan set in motion.  Still though it was a bit embarrassing, now everyone’s going to think I come from money or something.”

“Nah…”  Dash chuckled and turned around to give the other a cheeky grin, “They’re all going to still think you’re a dorky punk with weird parents and now a rich eccentric uncle or something.”

“Now is that anyway to speak to your boyfriend?”  Danny huffed and Dash moved in close and kissed him on the cheek.

“Maybe not, but it is the way I speak to my amazing, one-of-a-kind, spectacular, can do anything, and studly boyfriend,” the shorter teen rolled his eyes as Dash pulled them closer together and ran his hand up his shirt to rub at the taught muscles Danny had on his stomach knowing the smaller teen enjoyed the sensation.

“Flattery will only get you so far, Dash.” 

“Will it get me to first base?”  The blond asked trying to sound as smooth and sultry as possible.

“It might during our date this Saturday, but for now I have 12 more pre-cal problems to work,” Danny sighed, “And you still have to finish your art assignment and we also have reading to do.”

“Yeah… School is a real mood killer.”  Dash grumbled knowing he was right and got back to work.

They worked together for another hour not doing much else than working on their homework.  It was a comfortable silence with only the hum of the computers and equipment for white noise.  Every once in a while though the blond would cast a glance over at the swirling vortex that made up the portal into the Ghost Zone and finally curiosity got the better of him.

“So still nothing on that paper vision of Headliner’s?”

“No…” Danny gave a heavy and long sigh as he put down his pencil and rubbed at his face, “Normally ghosts like to make a big to-do about attacking our world.  They are either ridiculously strong going all out doing as much damage as possible, or they have an army and attack.  Sometimes both.  Whatever is going on here though… it’s like… I dunno they’re biding their time waiting for just the right moment.  Nothing has been reported of any attacks in the Zone, no one has seen any strong ghosts moving about with any kind of plan, and the strangest thing that has happened is just that swarm of bees the other day which makes me think more about that attack in the summer but there’s just not enough to go on to figure out what might be going on, let alone a plan to counter it.”

“You’ll figure it out, though, I know you will.  Then you’ll kick ghost butt, and everything will go back to what we consider normal.” Dash spoke with great conviction just as much to convince Danny as to convince himself.

“Thanks, Dash, I’m glad you have such confidence in me.”  The small smile that the other teen gave him warmed Dash to every fiber of his being and was all that was said on the matter.

The rest of the week passed by with relative ease after that.  The next day the school’s cafeteria served food that actually looked appealing and everyone was happy about it.  Dash went to practice after-school and Danny joined to watch while working on his homework.  By Friday they were both ready for the week to be over and Dash was especially ready to turn in his art assignment which Megan and Arnold both complimented him on.  At lunch the two teens managed to eat by themselves (Dash enjoying the new chili burritos that they had while Danny had himself a nice fish taco for himself from home) and talked about plans for the weekend. 

It was nice and peaceful for the rest of the day.  To Dash it was just another normal Friday at school, not much different than the dozens of others he had gone through over the years.  The jock knew, though, that a peaceful day was rare for Danny.  He was starting to come to realize that true peace of mind was a rarity for the ghostly hero as he had to always be on the alert for any threats to the city or to the Ghost Zone.  Dash honestly didn’t know how he could stand it some days, but secretly he hoped that he was helping him with his stress in some way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter I know but I needed an interlude before the next chapter and this was the best way I could do it. Now let me know what you think of this chapter and I'll get to work on something else hopefully and get the next bits of stuff done soon.


	7. Early Morning, Need Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First practice of the school year. We meet some members of the swim team and Danny finds out he might not have much to fear being a 'loner'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First practice of the year for Danny. We meet some new people and maybe a bit more.

Mornings were evil.  The guy who made his alarm clock make such an annoying and aggravating noise was evil.  There was no way this was in any way good, anything that woke him up from such a nice dream was evil and nothing could convince Danny otherwise this early in the morning as he stood by the pool their school had.

There was no way this was real.  This had to be a bad dream, and how dare his mind make up such a bad dream when he had been having such a good dream about Dash and having his body pressed close to his own.  Flesh against flesh as they rolled around in the grass heavily making out.  The feeling of their heartbeats getting faster and faster as fish swam all around them and through the jungle gym like playground that was a giant motor.

‘Geeze that was a weird dream.  Serves me right though for looking up engine parts while watching a documentary on fish I suppose,’ Danny sighed to himself and shook out his head trying to get out of his grumpy thoughts and actually wake up.  He wasn’t the only teen there though that looked like they were still half asleep.  Several others were standing around aimlessly and yawning and a couple were sitting on the bleachers drinking coffee they had gotten from somewhere.

‘I should have just joined the track team, at least they practice in the afternoon or something.  Forget how it works for them.’  Danny yawned again and perked back up as he heard the doors to the pool open again and a few more people walk in.  It came as no surprise when he saw an older man with salt and pepper hair and goatee walk in with a whistle around his neck and clipboard under his arm dressed in grey sweats with a red sweatshirt, but what did slightly surprise him were the two teens walking in next to him.  The guy was someone Danny didn’t know but he easily recognized Paulina even through his half asleep brain.  Both of them held themselves with a bit of an air of importance as they walked next to the coach who suddenly blew his whistle to get everyone’s attention. 

“Ok, listen up all of you.  I know it’s early and all but today will be short and we’ll have coffee set up for those of you who drink it at later practices.  It won’t be that fancy mocha half whip frap no cream extra late foam garbage they sell at those coffee shops though so if you want that bring your own.  Now for those of you who don’t know or forgot I’m Coach Ferguson and these are your team captains Paulina Sanchez,” the coach gestured towards the young Hispanic woman with her long hair tied up in a bun and Danny saw a few guys swoon at how attractive and put together she looked even this early in the morning even in sweat pants and a t-shirt, “And Adam Martin.”

This guy was someone that caught Danny’s attention.  He looked taller than him and he had a very nice tan skin that was well revealed from the tight tank top he wore.  He had short brown hair that seemed very curly despite the length and a pair of eyes that were almost steel colored.  Adam seemed wide awake and excited flashing everyone around a wide grin that showed off perfect white teeth and when he caught Danny watching him he gave the dark haired teen a wink before standing at the ready again for their coach to go on.

‘What the heck was that?’  The wink had almost seemed flirty to Danny but he honestly couldn’t deal with something like that yet, especially as the coach pulled out his clip board and started to talk again.

“So basically here’s how our schedule is going to go from here on in.  Mondays through Fridays we’ll meet up here at 5:45, do some stretching and warm ups and then start our practice.  I know it’s early but that’s why we have coffee and besides we’re working hard to get better and we can’t be better without a lot of hard work.  We’ll swim for about an hour or so and have you out by 7:30 at the latest so you can get rinsed off and dry before school.  We will be having practices after school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays starting at 4, we’ll have practice Saturday morning at 7 until 8 or 9 depending on what we have going on that day but mostly will be doing some weight exercises.”

Danny tuned out after that.  He knew what he was getting into and as much as he hated having to wake up as early as he did he’d get used to it, just like he’d gotten used to everything else in his life.  Coach Ferguson went on to explain what they were going to try to accomplish through the year and told them about some of the meets and competitions they’d be having and most of the typical stuff that Danny assumed was what most coaches did the first day of practice.

“Alright then, those of you not in your suits get ‘em on.  For those of you who do have them on get started stretching and warming up.  Today is going to be an easy day with just an hour of swimming so let’s get to it.”

With that everyone scattered.  A few kids took their bags and headed towards the locker rooms and the rest started to take off their outer clothes and stuff them into bags.  Danny was one of those who had worn their suit under his clothes so he just took off his grey sweatshirt and stuffed it into his black and green duffle and started to get out some of the other things he’d need.

“Swim cap, goggles, towel,” there wasn’t much he needed out but still getting it all together didn’t hurt.  He quickly pulled the goggles over his head to hang around his neck and then pulled on the red cap over his dark hair.  He still kept it a bit long and shaggy but thankfully it wasn’t too much trouble to fit into the tight latex.  After that he took off the deck shoes he was wearing and his black sweat pants and shoved it all into his bag so that he stood there by the bleachers in nothing but some tight trunks that had somehow bunched up in certain places since he had put them on less than a half hour ago.

‘If Dash could see me now he’d get a nose bleed,’ the swimmer smirked to himself before starting his stretches.  He bent his legs and back, rotated his shoulders, reached over to touch his toes, pulled his arms over his head, and tried to get his muscles limbered up for the swimming they were about to do.  Once he felt sufficiently stretched out he rubbed his slightly toned stomach, feeling the hairs growing just below his navel and sighed contentedly at the sensation of rough hands on his skin.  It might have been early, he might have been a bit tired, but he was starting to feel a bit eager to start now.

‘I wonder if Dash ever feels this way before practice.’  Danny thought as he made his way to the pool to wait for everyone, ‘Tired and not wanting to do things at first but once he starts to get ready he starts to get his energy back and gets eager to start.’

“Fenton, right?”  The teen in question looked to the side and saw Adam Martin standing by his side pulling his arms across his chest to stretch out, “Haven’t seen you much since try outs before school let out.”

“Yeah, you can call me ‘Danny’ though,” he spoke cautiously.  He didn’t know much about Adam other than him being the swim team captain and that he was a bit of a wild guy so Danny felt that keeping his guard up around him for now would be for the best, “And yeah I didn’t want to use the school pool to practice in so I spent most of my early summer mornings swimming at the community pool.  Besides I prefer swimming outside.  Sun feels good on you while you’re swimming.”

“Well it certainly looks like you’ve been swimming and training well,” Adam’s eyes looked over Danny’s body and the boy had to keep himself from glaring at the almost leer he was receiving, “I hope for the team’s sake though that you’re as fast as you look.  Well, see ya on the blocks.”  With a wave and a good natured squeeze on his shoulder the other teen walked off whistling happily and leaving Danny a little confused.

“Don’t let him get to you too much, he’s just really physically affectionate with other guys,” a smooth voice with just a hint of a Spanish accent spoke up behind him and he turned to see Paulina stretching out and getting ready, “He is right though, you do look like you’ve gotten into shape and filled out over the summer.”

“Heh,” Danny smirked and crossed his arms over the chest he now actually had, “Why is that a compliment from the lovely Ms. Sanchez?  Why it’s not even my birthday.”

“Just because I’m not into you doesn’t mean I can’t tell you that you look good,” The young woman scoffed as she straightened up and twisted to stretch out her back, “Just don’t let it get to your head, you’re not my type.”

“Yeah,” the teen couldn’t help the sly grin that ghosted across his lips, “You prefer guys with white hair, don’tcha?”

Unsurprisingly to Danny the young woman looked at him incredulously, “How did you-”

“Frank told me,” he smirked as she huffed and rubbed her arm almost self-consciously and seemed to mutter something that sounded a lot like ‘Never trust a football player.’

“Don’t worry though; I’m seeing someone anyway so I’m not going to hit on you or anything anyway.”

That got her to stop her complaining and raise her brow, “Really now?  Twice I’ve heard that in one week,” she looked him over for a moment and shrugged, “Well I suppose you have gotten more attractive over the years and I’ve seen you on that bike of yours.  Major points there, and even the pony tail and that facial hair you’ve got are adding to your attractiveness.  I don’t know what  girl has got her hands on you but she’s lucky, not many girls get to date a ‘bad boy’ looking guy with a dorky personality like yours.”

“Hey!”  Danny huffed but smirked at the smile that said Paulina was kidding.

“So do I know her?” 

Danny tensed up at the question unsure to what he could say.  Thankfully though, the shrill sound of a whistle saved him from having to come up with anything to say.

“Alright everyone gather round and get ready to start swimming laps.  We’re going to do some warming up first before we run some speed drills.  I’m going to write down your times and from there get an idea of how to work with everyone so line up.  Boys first.”

“Well seeing as I have a Y-chromosome that means me.  Pleasure talking to you, Paulina,” Danny nodded his head to her and quickly strolled up to take his place at the edge of the pool adjusting his goggles over his eyes as he went.  Unfortunately as he bent down to get ready to dive in, Adam passed right behind him and he could just feel the other guy leering at him.  It also didn’t help when he decided to take the lane right next to him.  If the teen had any less self control over himself, Danny knew his eyes would have shifted.

“Alright, everyone ready?”  When a few of the guys nodded the coach blew his whistle and they all dived in.

Being in the water so early in the morning was something that made Danny instantly alert.  The sudden cold ripping away his body heat as it passed over him was like a surge of electricity jolting trough his skin, fast and constant.  As suddenly as it happened though the young man shoved the sensation off of him and breached the surface with a gasp of air and started to paddle as fast as his arms could carry him towards the other side of the pool.

It was a simple sensation really.  Every so often take a breath and then go back to his pose and paddle hard all while cutting through the water with his hands.  He kept his head lowered into the water until he had to breath, pushing the water with as much might as he could.  He didn’t know what really made him so great as a swimmer; maybe it was his build, maybe it was his rather good sized hands and long arms, maybe it was the accident that gave him powers that affected his human side, whatever the reason though Danny found himself quickly at one end of the pool where he quickly twisted around in the water and kicked off the wall to head back.

Right arm over, pull back, left arm over, pull back, lift head, breath, repeat; the cycle was simple, it was fast and second nature and it was all that Danny let himself think of at the moment.  It felt good, almost like as the water brushed over his skin that it is also taking away his troubles both ghostly and human.  It was like being in another world, not so much unlike the Ghost Zone, in terms of at least physics, but something so much more simple and pure that it was like comfort given form.

Before he knew it, though, his hand hit the side of the pool and he looked up startled slightly and shaking his hand at the hurt that came from hitting the hard side.  The coach stood up on the deck with a stop watch and clip board in his hands and wrote something down as more of the other guys started to reach the starting point again. 

Danny was trying to catch his breath when he suddenly realized that he had managed to beat the rest of the guys.  He had been too busy focusing on his own strokes to notice that he had somehow managed to pull ahead of them all and beat them to the end and back.  Looking up Coach Ferguson had a very happy smile on his face and as the final guy reached the end he looked down at him and grinned.

“Nice job, Fenton,” he turned the clip board around and Danny saw his name and the time he had managed to get and let his eyes bug out in surprise.

“I beat my best time by like 3 seconds.”

“Really?”  Now Ferguson looked surprised for a moment before returning to his previous grin, “Well either way that’s a great time, Fenton.  Hope you can keep it up ‘cause we could use speed like that here.”

As soon as all the guys had finished the coach told them all to get out and for the girls to get in their turn.  It barely took any time for them to repeat the exercise of swimming to the other end and back and by the time they were all out again Coach Ferguson was tapping his pen against his clip board and muttering to himself.

“Alright, a lot of you have some pretty decent times, some of you not so great.  Either way you’re all going to be practicing long and hard.  You made your decisions to join this team so you can’t complain about it anymore.  Now everyone line up we’re going to get started for real now that I’ve got a basic idea of your times.  Everyone’s got a lot of practice ahead of them to get ready for our first meet next month so let’s hop to it!  Everyone line up on the blocks.”

And with that the swim practice ‘officially’ started.  Everyone lined up in one of the lanes and as soon as the coach’s whistle blew those on the blocks would dive in and head towards the other side before heading back.  As soon as that swimmer was back at the start the next person would dive in and the first swimmer would go to the back of the line.

After that was done the coach had them work on specific styles like the butterfly or back stroke.  It was hard and after his seventh time swimming a lap in rapid succession with little time in between Danny was finally starting to feel winded.  Still, though, he pressed on swimming lap after lap and keeping up with most of the other more experienced swimmers on the team.

“Ok, everyone that’s good work for today.”  The words were a blessing to the team and many groaned catching the meaning behind the words signaling the end for practice today, “Now everybody grab a board and let’s get 4 more good laps each kicking and we’ll call it a day.”

That got another round of groans from the team, this time from frustration, but everyone went to grab some boards from either their own gear or from the equipment bin regardless.  Danny went to get his own kickboard from his bag and sighed happily as he pulled it and a bottle of water out.  Originally it had been a simple pale blue board that he had gotten that didn’t have anything fancy to it and just his name written small on the bottom of one side.  Now, though, it had all manner of doodles and designs done up in sharpie markers covering it.

It had been a slow day at the pool and Danny had brought his kickboard with him to work his legs a bit.  Afterwards they had gone to Dash’s home and hung out for a bit.  The jock had wanted to show Danny some scenery drawings he had attempted over the last few days and while he looked through the drawings Dash kept turning his board around in his hands.  Eventually Dash had asked if he could draw on it and make it look a bit more personal and Danny had agreed.

The end result had been more than the teen had expected with graffiti style letters spelling out his name and words like ‘ghost hunter’ and ‘ace swimmer’ all over it.  There were also doodles of simple aquatic life like fish and dolphins around the corners and even a nice drawing of some otters towards the center when Danny let it slip that he had a fondness for the creatures.  All in all the board was now a custom work of art and Danny sometimes felt bad about swimming with it, despite the ink being both permanent and waterproof.

“Those are nice drawings,” Danny flinched at the voice of Paulina talking to him again, “They look like something I’ve seen before… Did you draw them?

“Huh?  Oh, no, Dash drew these on it.  He got bored one day and wanted to customize it for me.”  Perhaps he spoke too fondly and gave too big a smile to saying that, but he didn’t care.  Things had been good for them and Danny didn’t particularly feel like hiding his joy from it.

“Oh that’s probably why they look familiar.  He always draws little things in the cards he gives me for my birthday and Christmas.  I think he likes to draw.”

“He does, he’s actually taking art as an elective this semester.”  When she didn’t respond to that Danny looked at her curiously as she stared at him like she was trying to figure something out.

“You… seem to know a lot about what’s going on with him.  I’ve also heard that you two are eating lunch together and are hanging out outside of school a lot too.”

“Uh… Y-yeah… We started hanging out when we met up at the pool and after some tension and getting to know each other we started getting to be uh, pretty good friends.”  Danny fought the urge to gulp at the inquisitive eyes that were watching him.  He didn’t know Paulina that well and hoped he hadn’t said anything that would have given her an idea that he and Dash were dating, but with how intense she was looking at him it was hard to tell.

“Hmm… Well then,” she shrugged as she walked ahead of him again, her long sleek legs leading her towards the edge of the pool again, “Since you obviously see him more than me tell him to call me some time so we can catch up.  Seems like there might be a lot to actually talk about that I might have missed while I was away this summer.”

Unsure of what she meant by that Danny just stared at her as she eased herself into the water with her board and started to do her laps.  He didn’t think he gave anything bad away but having never really interacted with the woman much before it was hard to tell what she was thinking now.  Regardless, though Danny shook those thoughts from his head and jumped into the pool to get his laps in.

Four laps later and he pulled himself out of the pool and shook out as much water as he could before going back to his bag to grab his towel.  It was close to seven now and everyone was either finishing up or heading towards the locker rooms to shower and change.  In all honesty Danny felt like just changing and trying to take a quick nap before school started but the smell of chlorine would stick to him all day so he begrudgingly headed towards the showers ignoring the smell of black coffee for now.

Pulling out some shampoo and soap he had brought with him, Danny wrapped a towel around his waist before pulling off his suit and walking into the showers.  They didn’t have actual stalls or anything but they did have small cubicals to offer some sense of modesty.  Several of the other boys were already showering and washing up by the time Danny got there but thankfully there were still plenty of open showers to chose from.  Unfortunately, though, the one right next to his was also open and Adam decided that it would be the best one to clean up under.

It was weird for some reason to have this guy watching him so closely.  For years he had been all but an invisible shadow in school that no one ever noticed but now here he was barely a week into school and people were not only starting to notice him, but admire him as well.  How Adam was admiring him though was making him feel uncomfortable and he wished the other guy would get the hint.

“You were lookin’ pretty good out there, Danny, gotta say I didn’t think a guy with your history would be that great at any sports, but I guess I was wrong.”

Despite the wording Danny knew the guy wasn’t trying to be mean by blatantly pointing out how clumsy he had been over the years, but still had to take a deep breath before he could respond.

“Well I guess I just found my sea legs so to speak.  Also helped that I finally managed to grow into my body some.”

“And what a nice body it is,” the line caused Danny to cringe and he had to seriously restrain himself from saying anything bad while he soaped up his hair, “You do any cardio outside of swimming or weight training?  Because I gotta say, Dan, you look pretty tight.”

“Thanks…”  The tension building up in the young man’s shoulders should have been obvious.  The way he didn’t look at the other swimmer and showed disinterest should have further proved what he thought of the guy talking to him like that, but apparently more direct tactics would have to be used to get the guy away from him, “If you don’t mind though I’m trying to wash up and I’m not really up for talking at the moment.”

“Oh well that’s fine, I can just fill the silence with some commentary and maybe give you some pointers for later.  I mean you’re fast, but that doesn’t mean much in meets if you can’t back it up with endurance and knowing what to eat also helps a ton when it comes time to swim.  That whole 30 minute wait thing isn’t real, but you don’t really want to eat like a big breakfast 10 minutes before swimming because you will get cramps from that.”

It honestly took all of Danny’s self restraint not to just scare Adam off with his ‘angry eyes’ as Vlad liked to call them.  The guy was boastful, fairly arrogant, and if he was honestly attempting to flirt with him then he could add ‘horrible at flirting’ to the list.  Danny couldn’t be totally certain if the guy was just being a show off or if he really was trying to hit on him; either way, though, he wasn’t interested in hearing anything else from the guy.

‘So you won’t take a clue with the cold shoulder act, so how about I just give you a cold shoulder instead.  Along with the rest of you, of course.”  Danny smirked as he rinsed the suds from his hair and discreetly pointed a finger at the shower head that was pouring hot water over Adam’s body before firing a small ice blast at it.  He didn’t want to freeze the thing solid, obviously, so he just made it so that the water was suddenly ice cold.  Danny had never had to actually do something like this before but he had enough faith in his control to try it and was almost instantly rewarded for it when Adam shrieked with a voice two octaves higher than a guy his size should have had.

“Something the matter?”  The smirk that crossed Danny’s face was only slightly mocking but he couldn’t help it after hearing that girlish shriek.

“T-t-t-the w-w-w-water just g-g-got ice c-c-cold…!”  Adam explained as he shivered and looked at Danny while trying to rub some heat back into his arms.

“Really?  Huh, how odd, mine feels just fine.”  Not that it mattered anymore to the dark haired teen as he finished rinsing off the suds from his body and turned it off.  “You can use mine if you want, I’m done anyway.”

It might have seemed polite to most people, but the look that Danny gave the swim captain was anything but.  He had no idea what this guy’s deal was and quite frankly he didn’t care.  He just went to sit on a bench, pull on his clothes, and brush out his hair into some semblance of order all but pushing everything else out of his mind.  Some of the other guys walked in while he was getting dressed and they all talked a bit casually as they made their way about their routines and headed out. 

Once they finally walked out with their stuff in hand Danny actually jerked in surprise at a sudden realization.  He was making friends.  These guys were talking to him like he was one of them and he was talking to them like they were no different than him.  It was another strange feeling, this sense of comradery of belonging, and maybe if things went more like this than waking up so early wouldn’t be as bad as he had thought earlier.

“So Adam bothering you much, Danny?”  The teen looked up at the other swimmer that was addressing him, a red haired guy covered in freckles from face to broad shoulders, “Seems like he’s really trying to chat you up and you don’t look to happy about it.”

“Ehh I’m just not used to attention and all that.  Also don’t know what his deal is and how to deal with him either.”

“He likes to think he’s suave or something, he flirts with everyone but he’s harmless.  Personally I think he just does it to get reactions out of guys.  Never seen him with anyone at least to prove it anyway.”

Danny thought that over for a moment as he got himself some of the coffee that was available and mixed some cream into it, “So you don’t think he’s gay or bi?”

“No clue,” the red head shrugged, “But just ignore him he’ll get tired of it eventually.”

The other teen smirked as he fixed his own coffee and walked with Danny over to the bleachers to sit.  Most of the other swimmers, including a much warmer looking Adam now, were starting to file out of the pool house but with nothing else to do, Danny felt like this was as good a place as any to wait around for now.  He hadn’t asked the other to join him but having him around didn’t feel bad at least so he didn’t say anything about it until he suddenly hit himself in the forehead.

“Oh geeze, I forgot that you don’t actually know me and I only know your name through the grapevine and from what I heard Adam say to you in the showers,” he chuckled and shook his head like it was a joke before he turned to the dark haired teen and offered his hand, “Name’s Eric McGowan.  Yeah I know like ‘Eric the Red’ my dad is a Vikings fan, both of the football team and the historical people.”

“Danny Fenton, and that’s cool.  My dad and his best friend are Packer fans themselves but I never got much into that sort of stuff.”  He shook the offered hand and gulped down the last bit of his coffee.

“Cool,” Eric smiled and the two continued to talk.  Eric mentioned that he had seen Danny ride in on his bike a few times and Danny explained some details about it while trying not to sound like he was bragging.  After awhile the two started to take notice of the time and walked towards the school cafeteria that was starting to serve breakfast food for early arriving students.

If nothing else had ever come from befriending Vlad, this would have been the best thing to Danny.  Not only does the school profit from having decent meals now but it also meant more food available to the students who might not otherwise get any.

“Yogurt smoothie with blueberries and banana, love these new options we have.”  Eric smiled as he and Danny sat outside the school watching as other kids started to arrive.

“Yeah I’m glad, Vlad donated so much money for food.  Now I don’t have to worry about packing my lunch every single day.”  Danny smiled as he took a bite of his whole grain strawberry muffin while looking out for any sign of Dash.

“That was the guy in the suit that ate lunch with you last week right?  He your uncle or something?”

“Heh ‘or something’ I guess is one way to put it,” Danny smirked, “He’s like an honorary uncle.  My parents knew him in college and are good friends now.”

Eric simply nodded to that as he drank more of his smoothie.  Class would be starting soon and they’d have to part ways then.  It was also looking like he wouldn’t get a chance to see Dash before class started but that thought was quickly obliterated as a pair of buff arms fell across his shoulders and a wide torso heavy with muscle fell onto his back.

“Hey, Dash,” Danny smiled fondly at the antics of his boyfriend as he felt his chin prop itself upon the hairline of his dark locks.

“Morning, Danny,” Dash chuckled and the smaller teen could feel the vibrations of the joy resonate within him, “That a muffin?”

“Yes, Dash, it’s a muffin,” he tore off a bite and offered it to Dash who took it and quickly popped it into his mouth.  It was funny how he was acting but the smaller teen couldn’t find it in himself to care even when he heard chuckling coming from Eric.

“Eric, I guess you might of heard of Dash Baxter here,” he pointed up to the blond still half draped over him, “And Dash this here is Eric McGowan, he’s on the swim team with me.”

“Nice to meet ya, Dash.”  Eric held out his hand and Dash shook it, “But I’ve gotta get going now, Danny, was nice talking to you and if I don’t see you during school today I guess I’ll see ya tomorrow ‘bright and early’.” 

He gave an overly dramatic groan before his face shifted into a smile and he walked off.  Once he was gone Dash moved around with his arm still comfortably around Danny and he gave him a bit of a shake in a way that most other guys would have taken as a friendly rough housing gesture but was more loving and affectionate than they knew.  Danny didn’t say anything at first and only watched the smile on Dash’s face until he finally couldn’t help but laugh and grin himself.

“What?  What is it?  You’re smiling for some reason and it’s creepy that you’re not talking or anything.  C’mon spill it, what’s up with you?”

“You’re making friends,” Dash kept grinning and finally Danny shoved him away in a half hearted huff that held no real heat.  “So much for going from ‘Loser to loner’ now, huh?”

“Oh shut up, so I made an acquaintance… it’s nothing.”

“It’s a start.”  The blond bumped their shoulders together and his grin slowly turned to one more subdued and sincere, “Seriously though, Danny, I’m happy that it looks like you’re making friends.  I was honestly a bit worried about you being all alone this year with no one but me and Kwan I guess to be friends with.”

“Yeah… I guess it’s nice,” it really wasn’t much but for now Danny guessed that it was enough. 

For the rest of the morning before class, the two talked about the swim team with Danny glossing over the details about Adam’s strange behavior.  With Dash in such a good mood he didn’t feel like there was any reason for it to be ruined by something that the smaller teen felt was nothing major.  If Adam kept it up, Danny would deal with it, and if he still kept on after that he’d have to resort to more drastic measures, although he didn’t think it would get that bad.

Besides the creepy swim captain, the morning had started off well.  Danny felt energized and ready to take on the day.  With a kind and considerate boyfriend to walk him to class as the cherry on top the half-ghost hero felt like this was a good predecessor for a hopefully good week.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, show of hands. Who all out there hates Adam on principle right now? Trust me there will be more of him later. Comments and critiques are welcome here. Get me to talking and hopefully I'll remember to reply to them at some point. Thanks for reading.


	8. Something Desired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First football game of the season. I'm sure everything will go over smoothly and there won't be any trouble at all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little... HOT... for Dash and Danny... so hope you enjoy that.

Days passed and turned to weeks, school continued on and things started to settle in for the teens.  Dash and Danny found time to take breaks from school to be together and things progressed in a fairly mundane but happy manner.  They went to the pool after hours on several occasions (though after the first time Dash insisted on wearing a swim suit), hung out at any of the fast food places they could afford, and caught a few movies together.  All in all Dash’s worries about not having enough time to spend with Danny eventually became completely unfounded despite their busy schedules.  The blond even noticed that there seemed to be almost no ghostly news coming from his boyfriend which left him free to hang out even more.

It had been great overall.  They’d had a few arguments about stupid things that neither of them remembered after but really Dash felt like he was in a good and healthy relationship.  There wasn’t any stress of having to impress the other, things weren’t so serious that he felt crushed at times, and there wasn’t some kind of complicated line for them.  They were friends, they were romantically involved together, and there was no actual line that couldn’t be crossed with that.  Dash could hug Danny and rub his head into that long dark hair if he wanted to, he could hold his hand, and if he was feeling a bit mischievous when they were alone he could pull the other teen into his lap and reach up his shirt to rub his stomach.

There was honestly little else that Dash enjoyed more now than hanging out with Danny, and what he did enjoy were things he could share with him.  Such was the case with the first football game of the season.  All day Dash had been eager and all but vibrating from the excitement of being out on the field again.  He loved football and sports in general; it gave him a great outlet and had got him a lot of friends from over the years. 

“You ready for this game, Dash?”  Danny asked as he walked with him towards the field house were the team was.

“I’ve been ready all day!  I’ve got a good feeling about this game, today has been great!  Made a B on that lit quiz Lancer sprung on us, got an A- on my art assignment for the week, no homework for the weekend, and tomorrow is going to be movie night at your place and it’s my turn to pick!  I’m beyond ready, Danny!”

An airy kind of laugh escaped from the darker haired teen and Dash couldn’t help but smile at how he looked, “I’m glad you’re so ready, Dash, now go kick butt.”

The blond gave a thumbs-up and after a quick look around to make sure no one could see them he placed a fast kiss on Danny’s lips before running the rest of the way to the field house.  Inside a bunch of the guys were already getting their gear out and on to get ready for the game with wide grins and happy hollering all around.  They weren’t playing against any kind of big time rival and it being the first game of the season it wasn’t really that important but it was still the first time they were getting to play since last year and that alone was more than enough to be happy about.

“HEY, DASH!”  A loud voice bellowed out from across the locker room and Dash barely had time to brace himself as he was all but tackled and lifted up in a tight bear hug courtesy of his best friend who was already dressed in his gear and ready to play, “You good for tonight?”

“Yeah, man, I’m having an awesome day, we’re gonna kick some major butt tonight, and I am totally looking forward to the weekend!”  Dash grunted from the force of the hug before being set down all while grinning wide.

“Oh yeah?”  Kwan looked surprised and then got closer to whisper as Dash walked to his locker, “You got a plan with Dan?”

“Yeah, me and ‘Danny’ have plans,” Dash corrected rolling his eyes at his friend’s lame rhyme, “He doesn’t like to be called ‘Dan’ for some reason.”

“Weird, but I guess I can understand that.  I hate being called by my middle name after all.”  Kwan cringed.

“Only because it translates to ‘Mountain goat’,” Dash smirked as he was rewarded by Kwan flinching and blood rushing to his tanned cheeks.

“Dash!  Don’t say that out loud, man!”  He groaned and ruffled his black hair before huffing out a breath, “back to the matter: Plans now?”

“Heh, yeah we’re doing a movie night tomorrow and I get to pick the movie and spend the night.  Should be fun.”

“Sounds like fun, maybe Sunday we could hang out some though?  Much as I respect you being in a relationship and all I don’t wanna be a third wheel with Danny around and thought we could hang out.  Maybe shoot some hoops.”  Kwan shrugged obviously up for any type of suggestions.

“Sure, man, I don’t have anything else in mind.  ‘Sides spending time apart is healthy for couples anyway.”  Dash smiled and started to get undressed.  He really was lucky to have Kwan as a best friend.  He understood that Dash was dating someone and wanted to spend time with them, but instead of being jealous and indirect about how he felt he just came right out and said it as it was for him.  Straight and to the point was Kwan’s style and over the years Dash had learned to trust that about him to help him out in numerous ways.

The game wouldn’t start for another half hour but still Dash got dressed into his uniform as quickly as he could.  The sooner he got ready the sooner he could warm up and stretch to get ready.  He was still super excited and was about bouncing in his cleats by the time they were ready to head out to the field. 

Dash ran with the rest of his team as they reached the fence that surrounded the field and the crowd was screaming in excitement.  The cheerleaders were putting on a show for everyone already and several of the guys were roaring as their feet finally hit the turf.  A few minutes later the opposing team came out and their coach met Coach Tetslaff out on the 50 yard line to flip the coin for the first kick off.

 The energy in the air was almost tangible to Dash and he couldn’t help but look out over the crowd that made up their side to look for a familiar head of dark hair.  There were a lot of faces to go through, but it didn’t take him long to spot the one he was looking for. 

Danny sat off towards the sides where he could easily jump over the railings if he had to make a quick escape in case of an emergency.  Dash was sure that he wasn’t actually expecting anything to happen but figured it was better safe than sorry.

When he finally caught the blue eyes of his boyfriend, Dash gave him a sly wink which Danny returned along with a thumbs-up before pointing out to the field.  Turning around quickly Dash saw Tetslaff approaching with a smile on her face.  She said they had won the coin toss and would be doing the kick off.

With that decided the game started.  Casper High took an early lead into the game which they held until the second quarter when their opponents started to gain ground on them, scoring a touchdown and a field goal in quick succession.  That however didn’t stop Dash from pulling out plays and working with the rest of the team to keep their lead that had dwindled slightly.  By the end of the second quarter though, many of the guys were frowning at the score of 17-14 with them barely winning by three points.

They still had plenty of time to pull ahead and secure their victory but still the game was getting too close for most of the guys as they pulled off their helmets to get a drink of water.  Half-time was a welcome relief for them right now with the heat of the afternoon sun still lingering in the air.  To Dash it seemed almost strange how hot it still was.  The sun had set already but instead of cooling down he could almost swear that it felt like it was getting hotter.

“Whew… I didn’t think today was such a scorcher but I am roasting here,” Kwan panted and pulled on the collar of his uniform to try and cool himself off.

“Now that you mention it, it does feel a bit hotter than normal.  But with the sun going down at least it’ll start to cool down some.”  Dash said as he got some water and gulped it down, feeling like he had swallowed a fistful of sand.

“I dunno, man…”  Kwan started to pant and wiped at his forehead, “All of a sudden I’m starting to get real hot.”

Dash looked over at his friend and noticed that his face was starting to get a bit red.  The weather hadn’t really even been that hot today but for some reason it felt like it was getting hotter and looking around, Dash saw that Kwan wasn’t the only one that seemed to be feeling it. Several of the other guys were breathing hard as they gulped down their water and splashed themselves in the face to cool down.  Coach was fanning herself with her clipboard, and out in the stands a lot of people were looking red and holding their drinks to their heads.  Dash couldn’t be exactly sure but he quickly scouted out Danny who was looking around just as concerned as he was.

“I think something is going on and it’s not going to be a good thing.”  Dash frowned as he saw Danny slip over the side of the bleachers.  He wasn’t sure what was going on but if Danny was going to get involved in something than it would pay to stay alert for anything that might happen.

“Well whatever happens I just wish it would get cooler first.”  Kwan grumbled.  

“Normally I wouldn’t mind granting such a wish,” Everyone suddenly tensed up as the air started to get thicker and a green mist started to swirl around the air above the field, “but tonight I’ve granted the wish of someone else and he would prefer it if things didn’t cool off.”

People from the opposing side started to scream and run while the players backed away as far as they could while still remaining on the field.  On the home side however people were starting to move as quickly as possible without causing mass havoc.  After years of ghost attacks (and what else could it be) the people of Amity had grown accustomed to these things and knew how to handle them.  The home team likewise backed away towards the fence getting ready to run from whatever happened, but otherwise stood their ground.  If they ran off without any idea of what was going to happen things often had a tendency to get bad.

“Oh no, no need to run…” the alluring voice spoke from the mist as it quickly took the form of a woman with green skin and long black hair.  Her body was curvy and she dressed like one of those women Dash had seen in shows with genies in them, in fact she even had a wisp like form instead of legs furthering the image of a genie in his mind.

“I’m just here to get the attention of that darling ghost boy…”  She smiled haughtily and looked around at all the terrified people, “It has been ages since we’ve seen each other after a-AHHHH!”  The ghost woman suddenly yelled out in pain and fell to the ground as a blast of green energy that was all too familiar to the residents of the city. 

“It’s been over two years since you’ve been around, Desiree.  I honestly thought you’d have finally learned not to mess with my home after all this time.”

The ghost woman, Desiree it seemed, growled in fury turning to look at Phantom as he floated up above the field.  By this time most of the teams had fled for safety now that their resident hero was around, but several of them (Dash included) stuck around hiding behind bleachers, goal posts, or just anywhere out of the way where they could still get a good view of the approaching battle.

“This normal for games here?”  Dash looked to his left to see one of the visiting team members crouched down with him and Kwan under the bleachers.

“Used to be a lot more common a few years ago, but things have slowed down these days.  This is actually only the second actual ghost sighting at school this year.  Used to be we’d see a ghost of some type pretty much at least once a week.”  Kwan supplied an answer to the question before turning around to where Danny was now attacking that ghost woman and shouting out banter at the same time.

“This place sounds crazy…” the jock grimaced and turned his attention back towards the field.

While Dash might have been a bit biased, since his boyfriend was a part of the ghost issue that tended to plague their school, he couldn’t say that he found these things crazy.  It actually made life a bit more interesting to have things like this happen, and while he wasn’t too fond of the life threatening danger that frequented them in certain situations it wasn’t like it was too much to handle normally.

“Just get on with it, Desiree,” Dash heard Danny shout again as they flew around and he shot blasts of that green energy of his at her, “What do you want?  You normally lurk around trying to amass power from granting wishes before starting things.”

“Oh, my dear boy, I already granted the wish of someone who wanted to meet you tonight and I look forward to seeing how he deals with you!”  She laughed at him before she clapped her hands together and shot out some weird blue energy which Danny was just barely able to dodge.

It was horrible seeing this for Dash.  He wanted to help his boyfriend so desperately but there wasn’t anything that he could actually do.  He didn’t have any powers, he didn’t have any kind of weapon or knowledge to fight ghosts, and so all he could do was stand there and hold onto the metal they were hiding behind until his knuckles turned white. 

“Hey are you guys feeling as hot as I am?”  That player asked, and Dash averted his eyes to finally study the guy.  He looked like a running back, tall and agile looking, but what really stuck out about him was how he was sweating so much.  It almost looked like he had been splashed in his dark tanned face with how much perspiration was collecting on his skin, and it was at that same moment that Dash also started to feel a bit hotter than normal.

“Actually… Yeah, now that you mention it.”

Suddenly the bleachers started to shake as a loud roar cut through the air and fire streamed out into the field.  It was a harsh and ugly red color mixed with even cruder yellows and oranges in a way that Dash instantly knew weren’t natural.  As soon as it hit the ground the flames started to take shape and dissipate into the form of a muscular looking male humanoid with fiery bat wings on his back and jagged black horns on his head.  His skin was a blood red color and he very much resembled the female ghost in terms of style even down to the wisp of fire he had instead of legs.

“Is that an ifrit?”

“A what?”  Dash looked over at Kwan now who was squinting at the display before them like he could somehow make out what was going on better if he did.

“An ifrit, it’s a creature from Islamic culture that’s similar to genies.  They say that some are good and some are bad, and by the looks of this one I’m guessing he’s bad.”  When he turned to look at the confused look on Dash’s face he just scoffed and rolled his eyes, “I’m a man of many interests, Dash, don’t judge me.”

“Wasn’t going to,” the blond smirked at his friend’s antics as he turned to the field again to see Danny flying around blasts of fire being shot at him by the ‘ifrit’ apparently. 

“My name is Dune, and you are the one they call ‘Danny Phantom’ correct?” The ifrit stopped shooting fire for a minute and stared at him curiously speaking with a hint of a foreign accent that sounded surprisingly distinguished for a monster, “The famous halfa; yes?” 

“Yeah, though most people don’t go around yelling that out loud around here.”  Danny stood his ground in the air before the creatures and Dash had to wonder what was going on here.  The ifrit, Dune apparently, was staring at him like he was studying him.  His coal black eyes looked over him and the crinkle to the edges of them showed that he was amused by something they were seeing.

“My apologies… I just expected something more is all,” the low chuckle that escaped Dune, however seemed to take any sincerity out from his apology, “You seem strong enough though, a worthwhile test to my power for certain.  I will take great joy in defeating you and dragging your body back to…” 

Dune stopped himself from talking and shook his head with a rueful smile, “Oh dear, listen to me ramble in my old age, I shouldn’t be talking to what will essentially become a meal for someone.  I might grow attached.”

That certainly got a reaction out of Danny and Dash went wide eyed as well.  He had no idea what was going on as they started to fight again but it sounded like Dune wanted to take his boyfriend to feed something, possibly a ghost, but he had never heard of such a thing.  The idea of ghosts eating each other in some weird cannibalistic way sounded sickening and even more so that it was Danny that was wanted on the plate.

The swelling anxiety of images with Danny being eaten, however, were soon interrupted as a blast of fire came towards them.  Dash and Kwan were just barely able to avoid the flames and the resulting debris falling down on them, but the other jock that had been hiding with them wasn’t so lucky.  The teen screamed out in pain and fear as pieces of hot metal fell on him and Dash stared helplessly for a moment until he got a hold of himself.

“Kwan, we need to get him out of there!”  Dash didn’t stop to even think about what he was doing as he started to push off pieces of the bleachers from the poor guy.  Some of the pieces were still hot to the touch and burned his hands a bit but he didn’t let that stop him.  Someone was under that rubble and while he might not have any powers to help him that wasn’t going to keep him from helping in any way he could.

“Oh?  What’s this now?  A few humans stayed behind to watch the show?”  A female voice spoke up from above them and both of the Casper jocks looked up to see that Desiree ghost looking down at them.

“J-just leave us alone!  We’re not doing anything!”  Kwan yelled at her and Dash had to give his friend some major props for not running away at the first sight of the spectral woman.

“Hmm… while that is true I can’t say I really care.  It’s been so long since I had a young man to play with… Perhaps I’ll just take the both of you back with me so you can be my slaves like I was when I was alive to that pitiful excuse of a sultan.”  She spoke offhandedly of the idea while examining her nails like she wasn’t totally sold on the idea and Dash really hoped she wouldn’t be.  She was attractive he couldn’t dispute that, but 1) He wasn’t into women, 2) he didn’t want to be a slave to anyone, and 3) he wasn’t into dead people and Danny didn’t count since he was just a human with ghost powers.

“GET AWAY FROM THEM!”  Dash had never been happier to hear that voice than he had been that second as a large blast of green energy hit Desiree right in the middle of her back causing her to scream out in pain and turn around with her own fire in her eyes.

“You will PAY for that, BOY!”  The ghost flew off with a yell leaving the two jocks alone to get back to helping the third out from under the broken metal.  Try as they might though they couldn’t move several of the larger pieces and the guy under them was starting to look the worse for wear.

“Just…Just get out of here!  I’ll be fine, guys, you go get help and get away from this I can last until you get help.”

“The hell you will!”  Dash all but screamed as he looked out at the field, Danny was dodging that Dune guy’s fire along with Desiree’s own blasts of ghost energy.  He knew it was a bad thing to distract him but at this point in time there really wasn’t any choice.

“PHANTOM!”  Dash screamed as loud as he could over the roar of the flames, “SOMEONE’S TRAPPED UNDER HERE AND WE NEED HELP!”

It was stupid to try to split his focus, he knew that, but there wasn’t much of an option to the quarterback.  He couldn’t leave the poor guy behind but there was nothing else he could actually do.  Still though, he regretted his choice of actions as Danny turned to look at them only to be blasted by a fireball right to the center of his back causing him to scream out in pain and fall to the ground in a smoldering crater.

“This is seriously the child that has been giving you problems for so many years?”  Dune shook his head looking amused and condescending, “Honestly, Desiree, I was expecting more of a challenge.”

“Well maybe we got him on an off day, either way it’s a plus for us.  Now we can take him back with us and that will be one less pawn in the way.”

“So very true,” Dune chuckled and Dash went wide eyed at seeing the fiery creature start to descend upon Danny.  “Now then, let’s get you back to the Ghost Zone, child.”

An ugly red claw reached out as if to grab Danny and Dash could barely breathe at the thought of him being taken away.  He never even thought that Danny, a real life hero, could ever lose, but here he was about to be taken away by this monstrous ghost back to that Ghost Zone place they all lived in.  It was horrible and it felt like all the flames around him had finally sucked up all the oxygen when a strange blue light blasted the ifrit’s claw and he quickly pulled it back hissing in pain.

“What was that?!”  Dune growled out holding his hand to his chest and using his flames to cover it.

“That…”  Danny panted as he started to stand back up, eyes chillingly blue and angry, “Was my ice blast, and it’s just one of several abilities I’ve got.  Here’s a taste of one of my best!”

 With a deep inhale Danny flew up into the air and started to glow blue before letting out a roar that shook the air around them as well as cover both Dune and Desiree in ice.  It was insane the power that came from his mouth; the waves of sound that hit them were even visible as they blasted through the air and pummeled the ghostly duo.  No words could come to Dash at what he was seeing; it was like a beautiful mix of the raw power of a blizzard with the wailing of an ocean and just as devastating from the looks of it.  The attack didn’t last long but once it was over the two ghosts had been blasted into the ground and encased in a thin layer of ice.

Danny floated back down to the ground after he was finished and leaned over to grab hold of his knees.  He was panting from the looks of things like that attack had really worn him out, but after only a second he stood back up, straight and tall, ready to fight again as the ice that held the ghosts started to crack and shatter.

“Miserable… insolent… rotten…!”  Desiree muttered as she managed to break free from her icy prison, “You will PAY for that, brat!”

“No…”  Dune growled out as he floated back into the air as the last of the ice slowly melted off from him.  He looked drained and cold, whereas before he looked menacing and powerful with a raging inferno at his beck and call the ifrit seemed to be drained now, his flames sputtering down like they were fighting to stay lit.

“We were arrogant coming into this, Desiree, we should retreat for now.”

“But-!”

“No,” Dune interrupted and turned to her, “I wish a portal back to the Ghost Zone would appear, now.”

Desiree growled for a second before she let out a huff of air and pointed behind them, “So you have wished it,” her hands started to glow and suddenly a spiraling green hole opened up, “And so shall it be.”

“I am obliged to your power, Desiree, now come we have much work to do before we attempt this again.”  Dune floated into the portal with the genie ghost right behind him before he turned his head and glared at him with one glowing black eye, “We shall see you again soon, Phantom, much sooner than you’d possibly like too.  Be ready for our next encounter will not be so easy.”

“You come back here again and I’ll kick your butts into next week, buddy, trust me you’re not the first to make a threat towards me.”

“Oh I have no doubt about that, boy, but what is in the works now… Well you might just find yourself in over your head.”  With that Dune flew through the portal with Desiree right behind him glaring at the ghostly hero.

“Mark my words, boy, you’ll pay for this.”

And once she flew into the portal it closed right behind her.  Dash had no idea what was going on there but didn’t have any time to think on it as Danny quickly flew over to them blasting the hot metal with his ice powers to extinguish any remaining flames.  Once he reached them he quickly turned intangible and gently lifted the jock who had been under the debris out from under them.

“You ok, buddy, or you need me to get you to a hospital?”  Danny questioned him as he laid the guy on the ground but he just groaned and shook his head.

“Nah, man, I think I’m good, just some bumps and bruises.  Maybe a couple of burns but I think I’ll be good.”  He gave a cocky grin and Dash caught the white haired hero roll his eyes.

“Alright then, you guys good too?”  When both Kwan and Dash nodded he nodded and flew back off to take care of the remaining fires and to check if anyone else needed any help.

“Man, you guys sure have some awesome half-time shows, huh?”  The fallen jock chuckled and Dash just groaned at the attempt at humor leaning down to help him up.

“C’mon, you, let’s get you back to the lockers with the rest of your team.”

The game was eventually called ‘on account of ghost attacks’ and while the people of Amity were used to such things the visiting team showed obvious confusion about it all.  Regardless though, after the game was called everyone started to file out and the players started to head home.

Dash however did not feel like going home and called his dad to tell him he’d be staying the night at a friend’s house.  He had too much going on in his mind after what had happened and he needed to sort through it all and being at Danny’s house felt like the best place for that.  It had been awful, standing there helpless and not being able to do anything.  He knew that what happened wasn’t his fault and everything turned out alright in the end but still he felt like he should be able to do more.  Maybe not fight on the front lines like Danny did but at least offer support and to help people out who would otherwise get caught in the crossfire.

“Something on your mind, Dash?”  The teen in question looked up from his place on the living room floor to see his boyfriend frowning down at him from his spot on the sofa. 

Once he had gotten to the Fenton household he had gotten comfortable on the floor as Danny turned on the TV.  It had been a long night for them both and Dash had so much on his mind that he couldn't pay attention to anything.  He should have known though that this would telegraph and that Danny would be able to pick up on it.

“Ehh, sort of, but not really.”  He sighed and rubbed his face, “I guess I just feel drained after tonight and a bit of that fear from seeing that guy under that rubble and unable to really do anything is still lingering in me.”

“Yeah, I can see where you’re coming from there,” Danny sighed and slid down to sit next to him, “But it was still pretty brave of you to stay with him and try to get him out.”

“I know but still, there was nothing I could really do.  Heck if I’d have just had a fire extinguisher or something to put out those flames that would have been something, but I didn’t know where one would be and I didn’t want to leave that poor guy alone.”

Danny made a thoughtful noise and Dash turned around to see him biting his lip and tapping his head a bit.  He looked like he was thinking about something but Dash didn’t want to interrupt what was going on in his mind so he kept quiet until he turned to face him again.

“My parents make a lot of equipment for ghost hunting, but they also make a lot of stuff that has more practical applications.  If you wanted to…”  Danny sucked a breath in through his teeth before letting it back out, seemingly nervous about what he was going to say, “I guess I could train you with some of it so if anything like that happens again you can help some.  Maybe even get you some weapons training to help support me in a ghost fight or if you’re ever caught alone.”

“Really?!”  Dash couldn’t hold back the excitement he felt at the idea of being able to actually learn how to handle weapons and maybe even fight with Danny.  He might have moved past his fanboying of Phantom, but that didn’t change the fact that working and fighting with his hero sounded beyond cool to him.

“Slow down there, tiger,” Danny huffed and poked him in the chest, “I will train you, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be fighting out along side me or doing anything dangerous anytime soon.  You've got a lot to learn before I even think about letting you out in the field.”

That was fine by Dash for now.  The amount of work he’d have to put in wasn’t a big issue to him.  What was important, though, was that with Danny’s help he could be useful.  He could learn how to work equipment that could help save people’s lives one day, especially if things ever got as bad as they had tonight.  He might never be a real hero like Phantom was to the town, but just knowing he’d be able to help would be enough for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think I meant by 'getting hot' huh? Buncha perves you are. Go stand in the corner!  
> No but seriously I hope you liked this chapter and the minor new ghost. Are these two connected to something bigger though? Sure seems that way don't it, but you'll just have to wait and see now won't you.


	9. Practice Makes Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dash starts his training, Danny has practice, and everyone starts to prepare for what's to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skulker is a jerk, Vlad is arrogant, Maddie is a mother hen, Jack tries his best, and Danny just wants to spend the evening making out with his boyfriend.

"HAH!  The whelp could aim better than that when he first learned to shoot ectoblasts and he was running for his life while doing it!”  Skulker scoffed as Dash missed another target that had been set up for him to practice shooting.

“Skulker, quit teasing Dash, and Dash keep both eyes open and don’t tense up so much when firing.”  Danny sighed looking over at the two as Dash got ready to take another shot.

“Do you want to try a different model, Dash?”  Danny looked over to where his dad spoke up while he was tinkering with something, “That one does have a bit of a kick to it, you might do better with something lighter to start off with.”

“Might as well,” Dash sighed heavily putting the safety back on the ghost gun and setting it down, “Not like I’m making any progress with this one anyway.”

“It’s not as if we’re making any progress with anything at all, really,” Vlad scoffed as he and his mom looked over some notes.  It was another typical strategy meeting at the Fenton household with Vlad and Skulker dropping by early on because of what had happened the previous night.  Apparently the news that Desiree could now make portals to and from the Ghost Zone was something that Vlad found to be both fascinating and dangerous.  If she could let something as strong as Dune had seemed to be into the human world it could spell untold consequences for them, though being able to duplicate how she seemed to be able to do it without any of the abilities Wulf needed would be beneficial to them in the long run.

“We’ve got Headliner’s paper, odd bug attacks, a genie, and now a… what was it again?  Ifret?”

“Ifrit, honey,” Danny’s mother corrected him.

“Yeah and now we’ve got that.  It’s not much but it did seem like those two were working together for someone else.  We just have to figure out who and if they have any connection to Headliner’s prophecy and the strange dealings we’ve had with insects lately.”

“Yes, and unfortunately Headliner’s paper is starting to show even worse images of things.  Whatever was going to happen has now seemed to have changed into something far worse.”  Vlad threw his hands up into the air and then slumped further into the chair he was occupying as the sound of a blast finally hitting a target reached the ears of those present.

“About time, meat, I was another minute away from possessing you to show you how to aim.”  Skulker huffed and Danny had to take a deep breath to calm down the glowing green energy that had started to flair up in his fist.

“Skulker, 1) do not threaten to possess my boyfriend or anyone I know, ever; 2) lay off of him he has literally JUST started learning to do this stuff today; and 3) Meat?”

“That’s what he is isn’t he?  Meat?  He’s not special enough to hunt but he has enough meat on him to be a good meal.”  At the sickened looks from everyone present he shook his head and huffed, “I’m kidding… I wouldn’t eat a human.  Too much gristle.”

Choosing to ignore that comment and hoping it was just a joke Danny instead turned to Dash with a smile, “That was a good shot at least, Dash, you managed to hit it.  Now just try to adjust your aim a bit and maybe you’ll get closer to the bull’s-eye.”

“Try imaging something you hate at the center of the target,” Danny’s father suggested, “It always worked for me when I was younger and learning to shoot.”

“Back to the matter at hand though!”  Vlad huffed and pulled everyone’s attention towards him as Dash started to fire again, “This ‘Dune’ character sounds similar to those of the Far Frozen, except he has fire like attributes instead of ice.”

“Well Kwan called him an ‘ifrit’ and apparently it’s a vengeful ghost born from the blood of a murder victim,” Dash supplied not looking towards the group.

“Yes, thank you,” Vlad rolled his eyes and Danny frowned.  He knew that wasn’t very useful information and might not even be accurate but at least Dash was trying to help, “Perhaps, though, we should visit Frostbite for information and get some insight into what we might be dealing with.”

“Gee I’d love to, Vlad, but… I can’t, I have swim practice here in a little bit.”  Danny shrugged feeling just the slightest bit spiteful.

“Daniel…” Vlad groaned and rubbed his hand down his face.

“Oh don’t you ‘Daniel’ me, Vlad, we’ve got a meet next week that I have to get ready for and I want to do well in it.”

“The sake of the world could be at stake,” the older man tried to argue but the teenager just waved him off.

“Oh the world is always at some sort of stake, but if you want to go visit them then go on ahead,” Danny shrugged and then let a particularly evil smile cross his face, “Unless of course you’re scared they’re still upset about that fiasco you put them through a few years ago…”

“Fiasco?”  Danny’s mother looked over towards her old college friend with a raised eyebrow and saw that he did indeed look nervous about something.

“Nonsense, that was a long time ago and I have apologized and more than made up for any transgressions I might have made against them.”

“Oh ‘might have’ now?”  Danny smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Fine!  The transgressions I made against them.  Happy?”  Vlad huffed, red-faced and almost comically embarrassed by a teenager who could now look him almost squarely in the eye after growing up over the years.

“As a clam,” the teen just smirked, “But really, Vlad, you go see Frostbite, Skulker you go check in with Dora and them and spread the word around to see if anyone knows what might be going on.  Dash you stay here and keep on trying to learn how to aim that thing, and I’ll see you when I get back?”

“Oh don’t worry, Danny, Dash will still be here.  He’s going to practice this for another 30 minutes and then I’m going to give him an introduction and training into some of the other weapons we have, not to mention some martial arts practice and going over a few information packets we have written up.”

When Dash looked over at her with a look just shy of disgust Danny had to laugh.

“Well what did you think, young man?  That we’d just let you try some of our equipment and then go off with Danny without any real training?  No.  We are going to drill a lot of information into your head about ghost hunting and our tools so you will be able to help Danny if he ever needs it.”

“Plus you can try out some of my latest inventions!”  Danny’s dad held up a weird looking device that looked like it was being fashioned into a glove.  “If I can get this thing working out well I can finish the design and hopefully make it discrete and easily portable!”

“And what is it supposed to do, dear?”  The red headed woman asked as she walked over to examine the device.

“No idea yet!”  Danny just sighed at how despite not knowing what his father was making he was still somehow making it.

“Anyway… I’m going to go get ready for practice and I’ll be back in a couple hours,” Danny smiled as he transformed and flew over to kiss Dash on the forehead, “Don’t slack off now.”

“I’m sure that between everything going on here with your parents training me and what I’ve got to learn that I’ll be fine, Danny, now go on and get to practice.”

“Aye-aye, stud,” chuckled the ghostly teen as he floated up through the ceiling catching the blush that appeared on Dash’s face.  The blond was just so easy to tease and Danny loved him all the more for it. 

Once in his room he changed back into his human form and got his gear together.  He didn’t know exactly what they were going to be doing today but better prepared than not he thought.  Thinking about the upcoming practice though made him think even more about what was on his plate for tonight.  Dash had brought over some movies and they planned on watching them downstairs after his parents went to sleep.  Normally they would watch movies together in his room, but his parents were still not comfortable letting the two teenage males share a room to sleep in just yet.

‘If Jazz wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend sleep in the same room then neither are you, Danny, I’m sorry.’ His mother had explained even though he had pointed out that Dash and him weren’t having sex, Jazz had never even had a serious boyfriend to stay over, and that there was no chance of either of the two teens catching anything since they were both still virgins (or at least technically in Danny’s case though he didn’t share that with his parents).

Despite his arguments though they remained firm on their stance so they would just have to make do with the pull out bed from the couch.  It wasn’t the best of options, but it allowed them to at least be close to each other and doze off in a place without a lock so his parents were fine with it.

Regardless, Danny had a good feeling about the rest of the day.  He was going to have a great swim, Vlad was going to get some good information, Dash was going to stay the night, and tomorrow he’d have the whole day to do whatever he wanted to.  Somehow he just knew that things were going to be great for the rest of the day.

“This days sucks and everyone in it can go to hell for all I care.”  Danny grumbled a few hours later as he walked down the sidewalk with his house in sight at last.  Practice had sucked almost from the start and now he just wanted to go sit on the couch and watch movies with Dash for the rest of the evening.

“Maybe bake some cookies too…”  The teenager thought aloud for a moment before he flinched and held his chest where a bruise was forming, “Or maybe I should get some ice on this and just relax for the rest of the day.”

Walking up to his house, finally, Danny thought more about how to spend the rest of the afternoon when he started to hear someone talking angrily from their yard.  Knowing that Undergrowth was there he went to check on things and was surprised to see the plant ghost tending to the garden he had set up in their yard that looked like it had somehow gotten damaged.

“Rotten hunter, if I catch him near my darling children again…!”  Undergrowth almost yelled as he straightened up some flowers and herbs and seemed to use his powers to strengthen them.

“What happened… here…?”  Danny asked as he entered the back yard and then caught sight of the area.  The garden Undergrowth was tending to wasn’t the only thing wrong.  There were small smoking craters in the yard, burnt patches of grass, and scorch marks along the fence; it looked almost like a battle had been waged in the backyard but with only minor damages made from apparently small weapons.

“That… hunter!”  Undergrowth all but snarled and the nearby trees shook with the apparent rage of the ghostly plant, “He decided to train that blond boy in some way and this is the result of that training!  That rotten excuse of a ghost had better not show his metallic hide around me any time soon or so help me I will plant him next to the foulest and nastiest plants I can conjure!”

“Skulker was training Dash and this is the result?!”  Danny tried to keep his voice from cracking but he knew his eyes and grown wide with fear and shock and that he was likely now a few shades paler, “Is Dash alright?  What happened?”

“Oh the human boy you’re so fond of is fine; your parents are tending to him now.  They asked for some aloe and healing plants that I provided and then left me to the yard.  I swear though, had I known this was to be the results of his ‘training’ I would have wrapped that hunter in a giant sundew stem and flung him into another state.”

“A what?” 

“It is a type of carnivorous plant that catches its prey with a sticky sap it secretes.”  Undergrowth explained as Danny made his way over to him.

“Oh, yeah I think I’ve seen pictures of those… But are you alright?  I mean do you need some help with anything…?”  Danny hesitated to ask knowing how proud the ghost was when it came to tending to plants.

“I will be fine, Ghost child.  I am not even that upset to be honest just bothered.  I do not wish even the slightest bit of harm upon my home again and-” Undergrowth snapped his beak up and Danny stared at him.  He stared back.  For several seconds neither said a word about what had just been spoken until a wide grin started to spread across the teenager’s face.

“You called this your home.”  There was no disguising the sheer joy in his voice.

“I did no such thing; your inferior human senses must be failing you!”  Undergrowth huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, though his cheeks started to get darker almost like he was blushing.

“Yes you did!  You called this place your home; you think of my backyard as your home now!”  Danny couldn’t help teasing the ghost but quickly calmed down though his smile did not wane in the slightest, “You know it’s alright, I don’t mind if you think of this place as your home now.  In fact I think it’s great, it means you’ll help fight to protect it if anything tries to harm it.”

“I… have grown to enjoy your domain, boy,” Undergrowth spoke carefully, obviously putting a great deal of thought onto each word before it was said, “After my own was destroyed I felt like I would not find a place that I would find comfort in for ages, but being here freely in your world and just freely in this area you call your home has brought about a sense of peace in me I have not felt for hundreds of years.”

“Well you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you like.  You’re good company and you take care of the yard and grow a lot of good edible plants for us so you more than earn your keep.”

“I will stay until autumn sets in, after that I think things will be a bit too cold for my liking.  Besides I have regained much of my strength over the last few months and should return to my domain and see to fixing it again.”

“Sounds as good as anything, but we’ll talk more on that later,”  Danny grunted as he felt the pain in his ribs flair up again, “Right now I want to see what happened with Dash and get some ice on my chest.”

Walking in through the back door and into the kitchen, Danny got a plastic bag and filled it with ice.  The bruise that he had gotten didn’t hurt that much but it still hurt a bit to breath.  Upon hearing voices coming from the family room he walked into the adjacent room with his ice bag held to his ribs to find out exactly what had been going on in his absence.

“Really, Mrs. Fenton I’m fine.”  Dash spoke up from where he was sitting on the couch, an ice bag on his head, bandages on his arms and legs, and a wrap around his left foot.

“You are most certainly not fine, Dash, honestly!  That ghost is lucky he’s a friend of Danny’s or so help me I would have dissected him!  You poor thing,” Danny’s mom fussed over Dash like he was her own baby and from where he was standing Danny could see a blush coming to the other teen’s face from all the attention.

“I’ll say!”  Looking up Danny saw his father walk down the stairs with what looked like a spare shirt from his room, “Blasted ghost used my old tech for a ‘training exercise’, without my permission, and goes and does this!  I shoulda left that metal head the size of a pea.  Now come on, arms up and let’s get a look at your body.  You can wear this old shirt of Danny’s once we patch you up; that one you have on is filthy now anyway.”

The blond teen just muttered as he placed his bag to the side and started to take off his shirt.  Normally Danny wouldn’t have minded just watching Dash pull off his clothes to reveal his musculature, but when dark red bruises appeared on his otherwise healthy tanned skin he couldn’t hold back a gasp that tore everyone’s attention towards him.

“What the heck happened to you?”  There were various bruises all over Dash.  All shapes and sizes scattered across his torso, and though none of them looked very bad they still looked like they hurt. 

“I could ask the same of you.”  Dash rebutted jerking his head at him at the sight of him holding a bag of ice on his chest.

“Dropped a bar on my chest and tripped over someone’s pool shoes,” Danny shrugged, “I’ll be fine by tomorrow; I heal fast.  Now what the heck happened to you, why is Undergrowth angry, and just what happened while I was gone?”

“That Skulker guy thought I should get some training in a real combat experience so he talked to that Undergrowth ghost and he made a small jungle in the grass.  When I asked him how I was going to get any kind of training in such a small environment he pulled out that shrinking thing of your dad’s-”

“The Fenton Crammer!”  The older man interrupted, sticking out his chest a bit in pride at one of his inventions.

“Yeah that thing.  Anyway he made me puny again and then shrunk himself so the grass was like a jungle and then he gave me a gun and told me I had a 20 second head start before he started to hunt me.”

“He… did… WHAT?!”  Danny tensed up and could tell that his eyes had shifted to their ghostly green, “That stupid… I swear, of all the damn…GAH!”

The dark haired teen was so frustrated that he couldn’t even speak but thoughts of finding Skulker and beating him half-way to oblivion were quickly forming in his mind. 

“Relax, Fenton,” Dash sighed looking aggravated and just as done with the day as Danny did, “It was a game and all the shots he fired were set to their lowest possible setting so all they did was hurt me a bit.  I’ve had worse honestly… Just not all at once.”

“Still gonna have to have a word with that idiot,” Danny huffed as he took a seat on the couch while his mother finished tending to his boyfriend’s wounds.

“I’m fine!”  The blond groaned in annoyance, “Just banged up.  He said the best way to train was with actual experience and he had a point.  I just didn’t think it would get that rough.”

“It still wasn’t the best idea, Dash,” Danny’s mother scolded as she finished up treating his bruises and cuts, “Especially since you just started all this.  You just learned how to work one of our weapons this morning.”

“But at least he got some good experience and from what the hunter said it sounded like his aim had improved with that ‘training’.”  Danny looked up at his father as he tried to put a positive spin on the situation.  Even if that was true it didn’t change that he wasn’t happy with Skulker trying to hunt his boyfriend, especially after shrinking him.

“Still,” the female Fenton sighed, “It would have been best to save something like that for some time in the future.  I suppose though that so long as you don’t repeat that type of disaster again we can pick up your training another day.  Why don’t you boys just relax while your father and I go get some groceries for dinner.”

When hearing this Danny started to get up, immediately saying that he could still cook something but was quickly silenced when his mother’s hand found his shoulder and pushed him back into the cushions, “Now, Danny I know you’d be fine to cook, but you should still get some rest yourself especially if you bruised your ribs or anything.”

And with that the discussion was closed before it began.  The two adults left the teenagers and went off on their own to get the aforementioned groceries and for a few minutes neither of the teens said anything.  Dash slipped on the old baggy shirt Danny’s dad had brought down which fit the quarterback well enough and Danny leaned against the arm of the couch with the ice on his chest, soaking in the chill that slowly eased his pain.

“So…”  Dash grunted as he got himself comfortable against the other side of the couch and leaned back to look at the other, “How was practice?  You mentioned a bar dropping on your chest?”

“Yeah, we did weight training for part of our practice today.  It wasn’t anything I just got distracted by something and dropped the bar I was benching on my chest.  It only had about 90 pounds on it so the whole thing weighed maybe 130 so it didn’t hurt too much.”  Danny shrugged.  In truth he had been benching and doing well despite tripping over those shoes earlier and likely wouldn’t have gotten hurt if it hadn’t been for the team captain. 

Adam hadn’t spoken much to Danny since that first day but for some reason he decided to approach him again today and wouldn’t leave him alone despite trying to be polite and asking him to stop.  Things had finally come to a head when he had somehow convinced Danny to be his spotter during his benching and had made an offhanded comment about how plump his lips looked from his angle.  He had been so shocked by the comment that he had dropped the bar as he was pushing it up and it had landed on his chest.  Thankfully Adam actually helped him get the bar off of him and the bar hadn’t dropped very far, but still it had hurt his ribs and not exactly made his day.

“Well if you say so.”  Dash gave him a small smile and nudged him with his foot to get his attention, “Maybe one day we can work out together?  Some couples do that, right?”

“I guess, though I suspect you really just want to see me sweat,” Danny joked.

“Maybe, but really anything to spend more time together is beneficial in the long run to a healthy relationship, right?”

Danny just laughed and moved to lean against Dash’s side as he reached over for the remote.  It had been a long day for them both apparently and right now seemed like a good opportunity to watch mindless TV and relax.  If the shorter teen had been completely honest with himself though, as much as they both needed this Danny also felt that he should be doing more.  Practicing, training, working more on the threat that Headliner had prophesized, maybe figuring out a way to deal with Adam that didn’t result in blood loss; it just felt like there was so much he should be doing and as ideas and plans flew through his head he felt a strong arm drape itself over his shoulders and rub his side.

“You ok?”  Confused by the sudden question, Danny looked up at his boyfriend who was frowning at him about something, “You feel really tense.  What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Just…nothing…”  Danny sighed and felt Dash stroke his long hair back from his face.  He knew he wouldn’t drop the subject though, his silence speaking volumes, so he just sighed again before continuing.

“I’ve just got a lot on my mind… Our first swim meet this Saturday, the thing with Headliner, my practicing, your training, homework in general, and just… it feels like I have a lot going on and I’m a bit stressed.  That’s all don’t worry about it.”

“Hey,” Dash pulled away and looked down into his eyes, “Remember when you said not to worry so much about things and that if I needed to talk you’d always be around to listen and help me?  Because the same thing applies to me.  If you’re stressed about something you can talk to me about it and I might be able to help you.  I can’t do that though if you keep everything bottled up from me.”

Nothing could stop the smile that emerged on Danny’s face at that.  With those words alone he suddenly felt much better and he found himself slowly bringing himself to hug Dash and give him a tender kiss.

“Thanks, Dash, that means a lot to me to hear.” 

Nothing else had to be said after that.  Soon Danny’s parents came back from the store with food and went about preparing a simple dinner of burgers for them all.  After that the teens went back to the living room and watched movies for the rest of the evening, eventually pulling out the couch bed and laying down for the night.

There were still many dark thoughts circling around Danny’s head as he closed his eyes for the last time that night, but they weren’t enough to keep him up.  There would be time to deal with his problems in the future, and he had people who could help him with each one as he tackled them.  As he looked over at the blond that was dozing off on his back with his mouth slightly agape Danny knew that if nothing else, with Dash by his side that things would be alright.

“Night, Dash,” with a soft kiss pressed to his boyfriend’s cheek Danny turned around onto his side and fell asleep for the night, glad to be where he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter I know, but the next one is going to be super long so look forward to that at least. Comments are welcome and I'll try to reply to any and everything that I can.


	10. Meet and Greet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny's first swim meet. Will he win? Will he lose? Will Dash spontaneously combust out of embarrassment? Well you'll just have to read to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I have done in a long time. A lot of kudos goes out to the lady who helped me with the swim meet stuff SWoGW over on FanFiction.net. Lots of stuff revealed into this chapter and finally a few of those tags will make sense here.

 

Saturday afternoon was normally a time Dash spent drawing, hanging out with Kwan, and making out with Danny if they managed to see each other that day.  Today though was a different story.  Instead of making out with his boyfriend he was at the Casper High pool ready to support him in his first meet as part of the swim team.

It was actually a first for the quarterback to even be there despite the pool having been a part of Casper High for years.  He had never been that big on swimming except during summer so he had never gone and none of his friends had ever been a part of the swim team before so he had never had any social reason to be there either.  Regardless though he was there now and was almost as eager as the Fentons were for this. 

The two adults were sitting together, amazingly enough in normal clothes for a change, up in the stands holding signs to cheer their boy on.  Danny thought they were going overboard and being embarrassing but Dash thought it was sweet.  In all honesty he could see where the guy was coming from but there were so few parents that actually did things like that for their kids so Dash didn’t think their son would hold this against them in the long run.

“This is so exciting!  Our Danny is going to do great today I just know it!”  Mrs. Fenton spoke quietly but the amount of fondness in her voice was by no means distilled.  In fact it was almost as palpable as Mr. Fenton’s sheer excitement over the whole event.

“Of course he is!  He’s a Fenton; he’s going to do great especially with all of us cheering him on.  Just wish Vladdie could have gotten away to make it for this.”

“He’s still coming over for dinner tomorrow night though, dear; don’t worry.”  Mrs. Fenton soothed her pouting husband and Dash just had to shake his head in amusement.  These two really were the epitome of a happy and healthy relationship.  It made him wonder if he and Danny would be like that one day when they were much older and had settled down together, if they stayed together that is.  After all Dash knew they were still in high school and while he didn’t want their relationship to end he also wasn’t going to get his hopes up for a future that might not even be possible for them.

That, however, was not a thought he wanted to entertain today.  No, today he was there for Danny and right now he was just getting in the pool to warm up.  Dash really didn’t have much of an understanding of the strokes, times, and things Danny was doing but from how he seemed to glide through the water he knew the guy likely swam at a decent rate.  When he reached one end of the pool Dash would find himself counting in his head as Danny swam back to the other. 

Twenty seconds became thirty as the teen swam through the water.  Then forty seconds passed, a minute, two, and yet he continued to swim back and forth from one end to the other.  From the lack of slowing down after several laps, Dash could tell that the guy was only swimming at a steady pace and not actually trying to go all out.  He was just warming up his muscles for the events later on, but if this was what he was like going steady and slow then Dash had to wonder just what kind of speed Danny could obtain when he’d go all out.

After swimming a few laps, Danny got out of the pool and Dash had to gulp down all the drool that suddenly pooled up in his mouth.  Seeing the guy just pull himself out of the water and how the drops of water slowly dripped along the contours of his body towards the waist band of those incredibly form fitting trunks of his did things to Dash that he would prefer to save for more private places.  He had thought Danny was attractive and hot for a while now, but still it was moments like these that seemed to cause his mind to short circuit.

‘Focus, Dash, save the sex thoughts for later.  Preferably for a later shower… a cold one.’  Shaking his head he kept his eyes on Danny as he went over to talk to one of the coaches.  It wouldn’t be much longer until things got underway but until then Dash let his eyes and mind wander. 

He thought about this last week and how he had gone over to the Fenton’s house after practice to work on homework and then train some more with the older Fentons.  He had gotten slightly better in his shooting thanks to that ghost hunter’s unorthodox training session (not that anyone would admit to it until Danny cooled down some more), and his handling of some of the more close range weaponry was actually impressive enough that Mr. Fenton had started to work on something that would work best with Dash’s bulk and strength.  Mrs. Fenton had even started him on some martial arts after he mentioned that he did boxing as a hobby.  He wasn’t very good yet, but Danny had said that he could only improve with practice and experience.

School had been a bit of another matter though.  While nothing to terrible had happened there was still a lot of work that had to be done and it was rarely fun, especially when Danny only shared two classes with him.  If nothing else, though, Mrs. Ruesberg seemed to be starting to like him.  She had even complimented him on the still life he had done of the lab equipment saying that it was ‘Very original and modern compared to the more traditional mediums most of the other kids used’.  It wasn’t much but it was a start and Dash thought he was getting better if nothing else by doing things that were out of his comfort zone.

All that was something for another time to think about though, today was all about Danny.  He was going to be supportive and as excited for him as the other was about his football games.  He’d cheer loudly, congratulate him when (there was no ‘if’ in Dash’s mind) he won, and console him if the team as a whole didn’t do so great.  Regardless of what happened though, the blond was ready for things to start.  He didn’t like sitting around doing nothing for so long and he was starting to get bored.

Checking his phone for the time, the jock found it close to 2 now and sighed inwardly.  The meet/competition/race/whatever-this-was-supposed-to-be-called would be starting soon.  It wasn’t like he didn’t want to be here, but he felt out of place here.  It didn’t feel right for a ‘friend’ to be there to show support like this.  Somehow Dash just felt like he shouldn’t be here because he and Danny were ‘just friends’ in public, especially since he didn’t see many other students around the bleachers.

“Dash?!”  A sudden accented voice broke the blond out of his thoughts on how a friend would act in this sort of thing versus a boyfriend and caused him to look up at the source of it.  The young Hispanic woman was as gorgeous as ever in her skin tight racing suit and he couldn’t help but smile as his long time female friend walked over to him with a towel around her shoulders, “What are you doing here?  This doesn’t strike me as the kind of place you’d normally be.”

“Oh you know,” Dash shrugged as he got up and walked up to Paulina excusing himself from the Fentons, “I just thought I’d come by and show my support to the swim team, and to my friends.”

“Uh huh…”  Paulina studied him for a moment tilting her head from one way to another, “Other than me and Danny you don’t have any friends on the swim team as far as I can remember… Then again I don’t remember when you and him started to get along so well either.”

“Heh, well it was sort of a recent thing that happened over summer.  We just started hanging out for lack of anything better to do and we just became friends from it.  That’s all.”

“Yeah, I seem to recall him saying that too.  Strange though that you never really mentioned it when we were hanging out.  I mean I knew you two were friends now, but showing up at a swim meet…?  I didn’t think you were _that_ close.”

“Wha…” Dash had to clear his throat as his voice caught, “What do you mean?  We’re just friends.”

“Dash… We’ve known each other for years, practically since diapers, I don’t want to sound arrogant when I say this, but I know you pretty well by now.  Guys don’t do this sort of thing very often unless they are actually interested in the sport or come with friends and you’re sitting with the Fentons too.”  She glanced around before she took a step closer to him and placed one of her delicate but firm hands on his shoulder, “You know I don’t care who you date or fall in love with, right?”

There were times when Dash hated his skin.  Despite the tan he had from being outside and playing sports for so long he still knew that he had a very visible blush when he got embarrassed about things.  Such as his longest known female friend confronting him about his possible romantic orientation.

“It’s not like I thought that… It’s just…” Dash sighed and Paulina took pity on him and finished for him.

“It’s difficult to open up to people about and it’s not really anyone’s business, right?”

It wasn’t an accusation and while it didn’t sting Dash couldn’t help but nod feeling a bit numb.

“You want whatever this is with him to belong to just you two and having more people in on it will put pressure on things and you think it will make things harder.  I get it.  I’m guessing this also has to do with how you don’t know how certain people will react towards something like this?”

Again the blond nodded.  It wasn’t that big a deal really overall.  Sure some of the guys joked about how ‘gay’ a guy looked or acted and they made fun of some out celebrities on occasion but there wasn’t much heat in it.  That did not go to say how they would react though when they learned that one of their own was gay.  It was a fear that Dash still had even after all this time.  He knew he was gay, he was attracted to Danny after all, and while he could admit it to himself actually saying it out loud and the thought of coming out to his friends and even his family terrified him more than anything else in his life.

“You know if nothing else, you’ll have Kwan and me to back you up,” the young woman smiled and pat him on the cheek, “Just don’t keep secrets like this from me anymore, ok?  We’ve always been good friends and I don’t want to lose that.”

“Thanks, Paulina,” Dash gave her a sincere smile and a quick hug.

“SANCHEZ!”  The teens looked back over at a coach who was glaring at them, “Get back over here and start your laps!”

“Well that’s my cue to leave,” she chuckled and started to tuck her long black hair into a cap, “Wish me luck and if you need to, we can talk later.”

Giving her a thumbs up, Dash sighed and went to sit next to Mrs. Fenton again.  She noticed that his attitude had shifted slightly and asked about it, but the young man waved off her concern.  This was Danny’s big day and they were here for him first and foremost.

Eventually the officials cleared out the pool and all the members of the swim team dried off and talked amongst themselves.  Dash saw Danny talking with Eric a lot and some of the other guys, but there was one guy with short brown hair that seemed to be eyeing Danny a lot in a way he didn’t like.  The swimmer however either ignored the looks he was receiving or was ignorant of them as he talked for a few more minutes before a high-pitched noise came out from the speakers followed up by the voice of some man sitting at a table at the far end of the pool.

The man announced the meet was about to finally begin and Dash couldn’t have been happier.  The standard opening sequences that every sport did came next with the national anthem playing and after that it seemed like things were going to finally get underway.  Looking around carefully Dash spotted Danny sitting on the side with a bottle of water and towel around his shoulders.  He was fidgeting a bit as the girls started to get ready for what the announcer called the 4x50 freestyle relay checking his cap and making sure his hair was all tucked away.  He was clearly a bit nervous and Dash really wished there was something he could do to calm his boyfriend’s nerves, but felt that anything he did or attempted would only worsen things.

As the sounds of splashing reached through his musings he turned his attention back to the pool for a moment and smiled when he spotted Pualina’s form cutting through the water.  She was every bit as graceful in the water as she was on land it seemed and it looked like she had a good lead on the other team’s swimmer.  Watching her carefully Dash saw that her breathing seemed even and steady when she came up for air at the end of her lap and another girl dove in for her part of the relay.

It was a good race and thanks to Paulina’s speed the girls took an early lead.  Unfortunately though the next few girls weren’t nearly as fast and soon fell behind.  By the end of it the other team won the race and Paulina had her face in a tight line as she clapped for the other team’s win.

“Darn, and the girls were doing so well to start off with,” Mrs. Fenton frowned.

“Well hopefully Danny and the boys can manage to win their event at least,” Dash shrugged not really knowing what else he could say, “And if nothing else there’s still other events left for the girls so I’m sure someone will get a win from our team.”

The older woman nodded and turned her attention back towards the pool where the boys were starting to take their places.  Danny was second in line and was shrugging his shoulders a bit to get ready.  His goggles were on and his cap was on tight keeping his shaggy hair in place.  He looked ready and focused and Dash could recognize the look of an athlete ready to hit their court in his eyes. Danny was in his own world now and that kind of determined focus was what was going to push him to swim as hard and fast as he could and leave the other guys in his dust.

‘Bubbles?  Foam?  Waves…?  Ehh whatever Danny will go fast and leave the competition behind what do I care about hyperbole or metaphor or whatever that expression is.’

Once again Dash was saved from his odd musings this time by a loud beep followed by a splash.  The boys had started and already the first guy was nearly halfway down the length of the pool.  So far there wasn’t any clear lead between the two in the water but when the guy on Danny’s team hit the edge he took a bit longer to get turned around than the other guy, putting him behind.  He was just barely behind but still it was going to put Danny in a difficult position to try to get ahead.

Watching the guy in question he saw Danny getting himself ready.  He was standing tense and coiled like a snake about to strike and the moment his teammate hit the wall he threw himself forward with his arms tight to the sides of his head, his elbows locked straight and one hand over the other so that his fingers pointed like an arrow.  Dash didn’t know anything about dives or swimming in general but even he knew enough to know that a form like that would help Danny part the water easier so that he could get less drag and thus more speed.

After he was fully in the water though things really took a turn for the better for their team.  Danny was amazing as he swam and the older Fentons were yelling encouragement and praise for their son as his long limbs propelled his down his lane.  He was swift, strong, and Dash couldn’t help but think of comparing Danny to the otters that he liked so much as he managed to actually pull ahead of the guy next to him. 

At the end of the lane was where he really looked like a pro, he managed to turn around without any hesitation and pushed back.  His arms were powerful and graceful as they parted the water and pulled his body forward, and his legs propelled him with more than enough force to help increase the lead he had gained on the other swimmer.  Dash couldn’t actually believe how fast he was going and before he knew it Danny had hit the wall and the next swimmer had dived right in.  It was amazing and the blond found himself clapping along with the Fentons as Danny pulled himself up and out of the pool.

He was panting hard and had clearly pushed himself as much as he could, but that didn’t stop him from moving out of the way and cheering on the next swimmers.  Many of the other guys pat him on the back, including Danny’s new friend Eric.  Dash liked the guy, he was funny and seemed to get along with the other swimmer pretty well.  He thought the guy was cool and after they had started to eat lunch with each other he was finding the red head to be someone that Dash could like.

What Dash did not like though at the moment was that brown haired swimmer being near Danny again.  He had this weird leering look in his eyes that made something clench in his stomach and his fists to tighten.  It was a strange and uncomfortable feeling that seemed to come out of nowhere but after a moment he felt his feelings justified as the guy slapped Danny on the butt, causing the black haired teen to flinch and glare at the guy as he laughed at something.

Raw anger flooded into Dash at the sight of the guy doing that despite how obviously uncomfortable Danny was around him.  He wanted to go down there and punch the guy in the face at doing that and the only thing stopping him was his years of learning self-control from his boxing and the fact that it would cause a scene.  It seemed he wasn’t the only one to be ticked off by that sudden show of ‘affection’ either as Danny’s eyes flashed green for a split second which thankfully no one else seemed to notice. 

‘Don’t know who that guy is but I’m going to find out as soon as this all is over,’ Dash grumbled to himself.

The moment of anger though was quickly erased as the people around him started to cheer even louder than before.  Taking his eyes off his boyfriend for the moment Dash cast his eyes to the pool to see the final swimmers had finally started to swim and their team was already a full length ahead of the opposing team.  In all honesty it didn’t surprise Dash considering the lead Danny had gained during his lap, but still it was exciting to see their team winning.  It wasn’t often after all that Dash Baxter was on the sidelines cheering someone else on.

As soon as the swimmer touched the edge of the pool the crowd cheered.  Their team had won and while it was a team effort, Dash knew that they had Danny to thank for a large part of it.  Regardless, the Fentons cheered as much for the team as they did for their son. 

Despite the thrill of victory though the boys quickly gathered their gear and walked back towards the sidelines to make room for the next event.  At this point Dash could likely guess that the girls got all the odd numbered events and the boys got the even ones so he wasn’t too focused on the pool for the moment.  Instead he watched Danny as he stood by the swim coach and looked at something on his clipboard.  Whatever was on it was enough for the dark haired teen to grin and Dash thought that maybe it was the time it took him to complete his lap in the relay.

After that he sat down and watched the pool while drinking from a water bottle he had in his bag.  He seemed like he was getting comfortable sitting there and it made Dash curious about his actions.  If he let himself cool down too much he ran a risk of getting a cramp when he swam again.  Then again he wasn’t exactly sure which events Danny was supposed to swim in anyway.  When he spoke up about that, Mrs. Fenton pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to him.

“This has the list of events for today and who will be swimming in each one.”

Handing it to him Dash looked it over and scanned all the even numbered events for Danny’s name.  He saw Paulina’s in a few other races and while it wasn’t his priority at the moment he still felt like keeping an eye out for when she was up.  She’d always been a good friend coming to his games when she didn’t need to and watching and cheering for her was the least he could do to repay her for her friendship over the years.

“So he’s doing the 200 Free next, 100 Breast, and he’s taking part of the last event which is a 400 Relay… wow he’s going to be worn out after all this swimming today.”

“Poor, dear, he’ll probably be too tired to even cook tonight.  I’ll have to fix him his favorite dinner tonight to celebrate him doing so well in his events.”

“You think he’ll do well in the next ones?”  Dash asked slightly surprised.  He figured as a scientist she would reserve any such idea without hard facts and data to make any type of a guess.

“Of course he will!”  Mr. Fenton bellowed this time and slapped Dash on the back a bit harder than he needed, nearly causing him to fall forward into the person before him, “He’s a Fenton after all and he’s been practicing and working hard for months now.  There’s no way he won’t do well if this is the best those other kids can do.”

“You think they’re not good or something?” 

“Nothing like that exactly,” the older man smiled and leaned forward holding his chin in his hands as his elbows perched themselves on his knees, “It’s more like their technique, the size of the splashes they cause when they displace the water with their dives, how much water they splash when they move their arms, just several small factors that can cost precious tenths of a second which quickly add up in a race and put them behind.  They’re all good and fine swimmers, but many of them need a lot more practice and work to get faster.”

It was always amazing for Dash to hear Danny’s parents talk like that.  So often they seemed like overly excitable goofballs that it was easy to forget that they were actual scientists who held actual doctorates in various fields.  Mrs. Fenton held several in engineering, math, and chemistry while her husband held a few less but still impressive ones in engineering, chemical engineering, and physics.  They were both crazy smart and yet they never talked over people’s heads with complicated jargon and always seemed to use simpler words to explain their observations.  It was refreshing honestly, and for some reason it made Dash happy that they talked to him in such a matter.

“Well either way we’ll see if your observations are right, Jack, it looks like Danny is about up for his next event.”

Looking back down at the pool they saw the teen in question starting to stretch out his body and warm up some.  It was quite the sight for Dash, seeing those long powerful arms stretch over his head before bending down to touch his toes.  His chest was lean but getting definition that would surely be gained as Danny got older and lost the last of his baby fat, but what really drew in his eyes was how the swimsuit the guy wore clung to his butt, showing off curves that made Dash’s heart beat just a tad bit faster.

“Keep staring at him that hard and his suit might melt,” Dash jerked at the sound of amusement coming from Mr. Fenton and turned to see the man with a sly smirk on his face, “So… do we need to have the ‘safe sex’ conversation now and do you need me to get you boys any supplies?”

Dash wanted to die at hearing that.  This man was smiling at him so coyly like he knew what was going on in his mind.  It was humiliating and he could feel all the blood rushing to his face.

“N-no!  I know about that, and I think we’re good,” Dash waved the remark off and then jolted at how that might have sounded, “Not that I’m planning on doing anything with Danny!  I mean I want to but I’m not going to because that’s up to him!  Also it’d be weird to do that and I’m still new about everything there is to know about this!  But I still do know how to use… stuff…”  Dash groaned and held pressed his palms into his eyes, “God, I am just vomiting words right now!  I am sitting here talking about my sex life with the parents of someone I’m dating.  What is wrong with me?”

Dash groaned and leaned over his knees feeling like a mess now talking to his boyfriend’s parents about their sex-life, or lack-there-of.

“Oh, kid, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.  We just want you two to be safe if or when you decide to take that next step in your relationship,” the blond peeked out at Mr. Fenton again as he pat him on the back, “And if you ever need advice or curious about what’s safe or not for you two I’d be more than happy to help answer anything.  I do have a bit more experience in your type of dealings than you do after all.”

“You mean…?”  Again the teenager stared at the older man in shock, “You’ve had... experience… with other guys?”

“We’re scientists dear, we believe in experimenting to find answers to all the questions in life.  And those sorts of experiments tended to be quite… pleasurable.”  Mrs. Fenton smiled dreamily to herself while her husband just beamed possibly thinking of some sort of encounter he himself had had at some point earlier in his life.

Thankfully Dash was spared anymore awkward thoughts getting into his head as a whistle was blown again, which signaled the next race.  Danny had made his way to the block in lane 5 and the other Casper High students took the other odd ones leaving the even ones for the opposing team.  Each swimmer got into position, making sure their caps and goggles were on tight, and tensed up as the referee told them to take their marks.  For one tense moment everyone got really still until a loud beep signaled for them to launch themselves into the pool.

Danny didn’t take the lead right off, but Dash still cheered as he swam.  He didn’t seem to be moving as fast as he had in the relay but still he was going at a steady pace that would keep him from burning out.  Despite this though, he was still behind at the first turn of the guys in lanes 1, 4, and 6.  Dash noticed though that his turning was much faster than most of the other guys and as he observed things he started to notice what Mr. Fenton had been talking about.  Danny was doing things differently than most of the younger guys and moved with a flourish of barely wasted motion.  His strokes were clean, his kicks were even, and he kept his rhythm to come up and breathe every 3 strokes without missing it.

As the race continued several of the less experienced swimmers started to fall behind but not Danny though.  As he made his final turn and he started to go all out.  Dash leaned forward to the edge of his seat as he saw his boyfriend swimming neck-and-neck with the guy in lane 6.  As the two swimmer neared the edge of the pool Dash held his breath as Danny’s hand finally emerged and touched the wall.  Looking up at the scoreboard they had set up Dash watched the swimmer go wide eyed at what he saw.  Danny had managed to win over lane 6 by .08 seconds and the rest of the team managed to come in 3rd, 5th, and 8th.

As the swimmers dragged themselves out of the water Dash watched as the guy from lane 6 congratulated Danny on his win before going over to join the rest of his team.  It was actually amazing for Dash to watch.  Danny had won the race and everyone was treating him like a star giving him high-fives and pats on the back.  These guys were treating him with respect that he had earned himself; not because of Phantom or anything, but because he as Danny Fenton had worked hard, trained harder, and done the absolute best that he could to become as fast and good a swimmer as he was.

“You know he doesn’t have another event for another 10 minutes…” Mr. Fenton spoke softly gaining the attention of the teenager, “You know… if you wanted to go talk to him or something, he’s got some time.”

“Thanks, Mr. Fenton.  I think I will go say hey and maybe grab a coke from the concession stand.”  With that, Dash stood up and headed down towards the swim team.  When he got there though he saw that brown haired guy from before chatting with Danny who looked like he was trying to restrain himself from doing something violent.  With teeth clenched hard Dash tried to take several steadying breaths as he slowly walked over to them.  Something bugged him about this guy but he shoved the feelings aside and plastered on a hopefully convincing enough smile as he walked over to them.

“Hey, Fenton!  Great job on winning, honestly didn’t look like you’d win there for a bit but you managed to pull through.”

“Dash?”  The smaller boy looked back surprised for a moment as a beefy arm laid itself across his bare shoulders, “What are you doing down here?”

“Wanted a coke and thought I’d stop by and congratulate ya on the win,” He smiled charmingly and then turned his gaze to look at the guy that was standing before them in his skin tight suit and dripping wet body.  Honestly the guy reminded Dash of a rooster trying to strut about with his chest all puffed out and feathers on display.  He looked cocky and arrogant and something just instantly rubbed him in each and every wrong way there was, “Who’s this guy?”

“This…” Danny sighed and the blond detected a slight bit of tiredness in his voice that he hoped was not caused by his tone towards the other guy, “Is Adam Martin, and he’s the swim captain of the boy’s team.  Adam this is Dash Baxter.  He’s a good friend of mine.”

“Of course,” Adam grinned seemingly oblivious to the glare Dash was giving him, “Everyone knows about Casper High’s star quarterback.  Pleased to meet you, and any friend of Danny’s is a friend of mine.”

“I’m sure…” Dash grunted out and turned to ignore him, “Anyway, Danny, I just wanted to congratulate you on your win, you free to walk around for a bit or you gotta get right back to the sidelines?”

“I’m free for a few minutes, I was actually on my way to the bathroom.”  Danny turned to look at Adam, “Thanks for the talk, Adam but I’m good with my own training methods.  See ya in a few I guess.”

With that Danny walked off and Dash turned to follow him but not before giving another glare at Adam and sizing him up.  The guy wasn’t as big as him, but he still looked strong and he definitely had some power to those thick legs of his.  Still though Dash felt like he could take him.

“You know there’s only room for one pair of green eyes in this relationship, Dash, and it’s not going to come from you.”

“What?”  Dash jerked his head to look at Danny staring at him unimpressed.

“You look like you want to go back to Adam and choke him with his goggles.”

“Guy just bugs me… that’s all,” Dash grumbled and shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

“You saw him slap my butt didn’t you?”  When the question was only met with a grumbling Danny continued, “Doesn’t that happen to you all the time with the other football players?”

“I guess, but he certainly seemed to be copping more of a feel than any guy I’ve ever met before.”

“So you are jealous?”

“A better question would be why you don’t tell the guy to take a hike,” Dash snorted and glared down at Danny, “I saw your eyes flash when he did that, and you don’t seem to like him being around you either so why don’t you tell him to get lost?”

That certainly put Danny on the spot as the taller teen looked at him.

“I guess I just don’t want to make waves with the guy.  I mean I can take a bunch of harmless flirting and unwanted touching if it means keeping things peaceful on the team.  It’s not like he’s trying to force himself on me or anything after all so it’s not… so bad.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable or feel bad then it IS bad, Danny,” Dash took a quick look around to see if anyone was around, but they had walked into a deserted hallway that lead to the bathrooms so the blond felt safe in reaching behind Danny’s head and pulling it towards his own until their foreheads touched.

“If he makes you uncomfortable then tell him right up front, don’t let him touch you if you don’t want it, and if he still doesn’t stop just report the creep.  You don’t have to put up with something like that if you don’t want to.”

“I know… I just…”  Danny sighed and Dash smiled at the scent of the shorter teen’s toothpaste reaching his nose, “It feels childish and silly to report someone just for touching me in what should be a friendly manner and using stupid lines on me.”

“Still though it’s important to set boundaries,” Dash pulled back and tried to put on a smile that he was sure didn’t reach his eyes, “And if this keeps up let your big scary boyfriend handle him, ok?”

“Dash…” Danny smirked and shook his head amused, “You like romantic comedies and collect stuffed toys to donate to children in hospitals and shelters… You’re not scary.”

It was a playful jab, Dash knew it so he felt completely justified in sticking out his lip in a playfully obvious pout.

“But you are big,” Danny admitted and rolled his eyes, and with that admission Dash chuckled and held up his arms to flex and show off in some over the top poses. 

“Yeah, you know I’m swole!  I’m big, cut, and can bench nearly 250 pounds; 295 if you count the weight of the bar.  I’m a stud.”  Danny laughed at the act Dash put on, flexing in over the top poses and growling to look tougher.  At one point he even banged on his chest and made grunting noises like a gorilla before letting out a quiet Tarzan like yell.  This had blood rushing towards Danny’s face and he quickly smacked Dash’s chest to get him to stop.

“Alright already, you’re macho.  You don’t have to prove anything to me…”  To Danny there might not have been anything he had to prove, but looking at him and seeing how flustered he had made him was something that made his day.

“Maybe not… But I still like seeing the effect I have on you when I do stupid things like this.”  Dash reached up to pull his boyfriend’s still blushing face back towards him and gave him a chaste kiss on his lips.  It was sweet, warm, and over too soon in his opinion, but upon pulling back and seeing the warm color still gracing Danny’s cheeks made up for it. 

Still holding onto his face Dash let his thumb trace along lines of his face.  The cut of the jaw, the slight protrusions of the cheek bones, the angle of his nose, each line was something he studied carefully and saved to memory to be sketched out later.  Eventually he let his thumb trail down to Danny’s chin where he still had some of that odd colored scruff that could almost pass as a goatee.  It never stopped amazing Dash to see these small characteristics of Phantom seeming to leak through into the human side of him.  If he were to put it into words he would think that maybe Danny was growing more into the hero the lab accident had made him or something.

‘No…’ Dash chuckled as he corrected his thoughts on that immediately as they came to mind, ‘That lab accident didn’t make him a hero, he did that himself.  The accident just gave him the means and confidence to become more of a hero than he could have been just being an ordinary human.’

“What’s so funny?”  Danny tilted his head curiously as they started to pull apart, “What are you thinking about?”

“Oh just wondering how hot you might look with an actual beard instead of that patch of hair on you chin.”  Dash shrugged feigning any deep thoughts and laughed at the insulted look that appeared on the other’s face.

“I’ll have you know I’m still growing and if my dad is anything to go by I’ll be able to grow a beard that’ll be way better than any type of peach fuzz that you can’t even seem to grow yet.”

“Hey…”  Dash huffed amused at that comment, “Just because you’ve never seen me with any facial hair doesn’t mean I can’t grow any.”

“Oh yeah?  Then why don’t you?” 

“Because…” Dash shook his head wondering why they were discussing this, “my mom doesn’t like it when I try to grow any facial hair, but I was thinking of doing that ‘No Shave November thing’ this year with the team if our winning streak holds out.”

“Hmm… well then we’ll just have to see what comes of that now won’t we, Baxter?”  Danny smirked and again Dash had to wonder what was actually going on.

“Didn’t you need to use the bathroom or something?”

“Oh!  Right, I forgot why I walked out here and I need to get back before I’m up again.”

“Knock ‘em dead, Fenton.”  And just because he could and he felt like he should remind Danny that he was the only one allowed to do so he reached down and copped a feel of the firm muscles of Danny’s butt right as he turned away to head to the bathroom.

“Easy, Tiger.”  Danny flinched at the contact as he looked back at Dash, “This suit shows off quite a bit and I don’t need anyone seeing anymore thanks to you.”

“Is it wrong of me to take that as a compliment?”  Dash leaned against the hall smiling and as proud as a peacock to hear what kind of effect he had on Danny.

“In public, yes,” Danny huffed and walked away, “But in a more private place… I guess not.”

Looking behind him, Danny gave Dash a wink before he turned into the bathroom.  Feeling smug and self-assured of himself again, Dash all but strutted to get the drink he had originally wanted to get before he made his way back to the Fentons.  They had started talking with the parents of another swimmer apparently so Dash just sat down and sipped his drink as the next race started.

Eventually it was Danny’s turn in the pool again and while he gave it his all there were some new swimmers in this event that were better than the last.  Still though he came in fourth and from what little Dash was able to gather from how things worked that meant he was still doing well in points.  Not long after that came the 100 breast stroke which Danny did much better in, coming in second overall.  After that there were only a few more races and then the 400 relay in which Danny would be swimming in again.

“So this is the last event of the day, right?”  Dash asked glancing over the sheet of paper with the list of events on it.

“Yep, this is Danny’s last race and hopefully they’ll be able to win this one.  They’re barely ahead of the other team in terms of total points and it would be very disappointing to lose after holding their lead for so long.”  Mr. Fenton frowned in concern as they watched the boys get ready for the relay as the girls finished getting out.

“It looks like Danny’s second to last this time,” Mrs Fenton observed, “He seems to be one of their stronger swimmers so I suppose they want him to try to use him to push through the final bit of the race.”

“He’ll do great.  He’s been doing well in all his matches so far so there’s no way that they can lose with an ace like him on their side.” Dash spoke confidently in his boyfriend’s abilities causing both the Fenton parents to smile at him.  “What?”

“Nothing, dear…”  Mrs. Fenton chuckled as she shook her head, “It’s just nice that Danny has someone like you in his life now.  We were actually afraid he’d start to shut out people without his friends around, but having someone like you in his life… I think it’s only going to be beneficial to him, and I hope it will be the same for you as well.”

“I…” the teen thought for a moment on the mother’s words before he collected himself, “I think that Danny has had a great effect on me and I can only hope that I can help him as much as he’s helped me.”

“I think you do more than you think, Dash.”

“Quiet, you two, they’re about to start!”  Mr. Fenton shushed them both and Dash just turned to look at the pool again hoping that his face wasn’t as red as it felt.  Thankfully his embarrassment of the praise was quickly brought to a halt as he saw the first swimmers get into the pool.

“What’s going on?”  Dash looked between the two adults before looking back at the pool

“Oh, this is the Medley Relay,” Mrs. Fenton explained, “That means that each swimmer will be doing a different stroke and because you can’t dive into the water for it they start with the back stroke.  Next will be the breaststroke, Danny will be doing the butterfly, and the last boy will be swimming freestyle.”

“That’s a pretty hard stroke… You think Danny can actually do well with it?”

“Well you’ve watched him swim more than we have, Dash, what do you think?”  Mrs. Fenton smiled coyly at him and his face flushed again at how that sounded.

“W-well he’s a good strong swimmer and has a lot of power in his strokes, but I never really saw him swim the butterfly all too often so I’m not sure how good he is with it to be honest.”

“Well we’ll just have to see how it goes then now won’t we?”  She chuckled good-naturedly and turned to watch the pool right as the buzzer went off for them to start.

The first racers indeed started off with the backstroke kicking off from the pool and moving their arms in circles to pull the water back.  Dash knew how to swim like that, in fact he felt like pretty much everyone who swam knew that at some point or another, but watching these guys was a feat in itself.  They raised their arms and kicked so fast that it seemed like everything had just started when they were already halfway down the pool.  Amazing was a word that came to the blond teen’s mind frequently lately but that was the only word he could think of to describe the swimmers, especially as they came to the end of the pool and managed to not hurt their hands hitting the side.  From there it was a simple twist and turn around and the two were back at it going neck and neck each one trying to gain even the slightest bit of an edge over the other.

As soon as the pair made it back to the start the next pair of swimmers dove right in and Danny got into position for his turn.  He rotated his arms and shook himself out some as the other swimmers cut through the water.  He looked a bit nervous and tense, but Dash could see that he was still as focused as ever.  Keeping his eyes on the pool and waiting for the exact second that he could dive in.

Unfortunately for their team though, the swimmer that came before Danny had slowed down from the exertion which gave the other team a bit of a lead.  By the time he got to the edge of the pool and Danny was allowed to dive in the other guy had already dove in and was a few lengths ahead.

What happened next though, was something that Dash found to be beyond impressive.  Once Danny had surfaced he started his strokes with such a fevered ferocity that it was almost like he was attacking the water.  Each kick and rotation of his arms had so much power that they quickly propelled him forward to gain ground.  His arms moved as fast as he could make them and each time they moved they were brought down with an impressive amount of force that propelled him through the water.

The crowd cheered as Danny started to catch up to his opponent both ecstatic and impressed by the teen’s speed.  He quickly gained ground as he swam and as they came to the half-way point they were tied for the lead.  That however quickly changed as Danny pulled ahead and managed to get to the end of the pool again and turn around before the other could reach it.  That managed to put Danny even further in the lead but that didn’t slow him down.  If anything after he had made his turn he started to swim even harder, pushing and pulling the water back with all his might to gain as much ground as he could.  He was a man on a mission, focused solely on his goal where everything outside his focus just ceased to exist.

‘He’s really going all out.’ Dash thought in awe as he watched Danny’s back and shoulders stretch and flex as they moved.  There wasn’t as much muscle on him as Dash had, but still looking at those muscles work showed that there was just as much power in them as he had in his own.

“C’MON, DANNY!”  Mr. Fenton shouted his encouragement along with everyone else not that he needed much more.  Danny was almost done with his part of the relay now and he had managed to pull far ahead of the other swimmer.  By the time he reached the end of the lane and he got out though it was obvious that he might have pushed himself a bit harder than he should have.  He was panting hard and his body was shaking from the amount of effort he had exerted.  Dash wanted nothing more than to go down there and do something to help him after that but knew his presence wouldn’t be welcomed at this point and time, and besides one of his teammates, Eric by the looks of it, had already gotten him his towel and water bottle so there really wasn’t much else to do.

With the lead that Danny had given them, the rest of the race was merely a formality in Dash’s opinion.  The last swimmer swam freestyle and even without the large lead Danny had got them, it was obvious the guy would have brought the team the win.  When he made it back to the starting line, the crowd cheered and the team whooped and hollered, knowing that this had secured them the win for the meet.

“That was awesome…”  Dash chuckled to himself as he leaned over his lap with his elbows in his knees.

“That it was, kiddo,” Mr. Fenton smiled down at him again as he pat him on the back, “I suppose you’re going to hang around and wait for Danny?”

“Yes, sir, we’ll be back at your house in a little bit I guess.”

With that the pair of adults left leaving Dash behind to watch the swimmers do their warm-downs.  It wasn’t a big deal really, mostly they just swam about at a leisurely pace, not in any big hurry to get anywhere.  The atmosphere was calm, the other team had already finished their turn in the pool and had headed into the visiting locker room to get changed and that left the remaining Casper High swimmers to swim at their own pace.

Once everyone was out and heading towards the showers Dash walked down to wait by the exit and attempted to be casual.  It wasn’t long after that he heard the doors to the locker room opening and a bunch of guys chatting amicably and riding the thrill of their victory.

“Still can’t believe how fast you moved, Dan-o!  I mean that was some pro level speed you pulled out there!”  Dash turned to the sound of the voices and smiled as he saw Eric playfully punching Danny’s shoulder, “How’d you get to be that good?”

“Just got a lot of strength in my arms and legs I guess.  I practice martial arts too so maybe that has something to do with it?”  Danny shrugged and Dash admired the blush on his cheeks that came from so much praise towards him.

“Well whatever it is man keep it up!  With that kind of speed and power we could make it to state!”

“Thanks man, but hey I’ll see you guys later I’m going to head home and rest a bit.  That last race really wore me out.”

“Aww, but we were all going to head out to get some pizza or something to celebrate our win,” this time Adam spoke and Dash had to fight down a sneer that threatened to come to his face, “And we can’t celebrate in good confidence without our ace now can we?”

“Sorry, Captain…”  Danny snorted sarcastically, “But like I said I’m beat and I promised a friend of mine we’d hang out today anyway so like I said before: I’ll see you guys later.”

A few of the guys said goodbye Danny walked over to Dash and frowned at him.

“Still upset about Adam?”  Though phrased like a question, it was obvious to both young men that there was no need for an actual answer.

“I just don’t like that guy, he’s creepy and uses all those stupid lines.  He’s like Foley but with the looks and charm to actually get somewhere with it.”

“Ok, Firstly: watch it, Tuck’s still my best friend, second… Yeah I guess he does try too hard with picking up girls and all but he is getting better at it, or at least isn’t so bad that girls just laugh at him anymore.”

“Still not the point, that Adam guy is a creep and don’t even try to deny it.”

“Ok I won’t, but Dash you don’t have to worry about me and him, I feel nothing for him and frankly find his attitude and come-ons to be a huge turn off.”

“I just don’t like him touching you and stuff… that’s all.”  Dash muttered a bit and drew in on himself feeling small and petty for being so jealous, but he just couldn’t help it.  Danny was his boyfriend and he didn’t want any other guys touching him in any intimate ways.  He also didn’t want Danny to be touched in ways he felt uncomfortable with but he knew that if anyone actually did try to do something too much then the ghostly teen would make sure they wouldn’t try again.

“Like I said, I don’t like him touching me either but I am going to tell him off the next time he does something I don’t like.  I don’t want to get violent with him or risk anything but like you said boundaries are important and he needs to learn to respect mine.  Right?”

“Right.”  Dash grinned and jerked his head towards the doors, “Ready to go now?”

“Sure am, and ready to crash really.  I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m beat, I really went all out at the end there.”

“Yeah I saw,” Dash smiled as the pair walked out and towards Dash’s car, “You really were amazing out there, spectacular even.  I mean I knew you were a good swimmer and practiced a lot but I never thought you could swim that fast.”

“I guess fighting ghosts, working out, and martial-arts training really have benefited me in the long run,” the shorter teen smiled bashfully and Dash wrapped his arm around him to give him a side hug.

“I’m proud of you, you know… And so are your parents.”  It was a quiet admission as they got into the car, but it spoke volumes in both pairs of ears. 

“Thanks, Dash, now let’s get back to my place.  I am starving and I want to make something to eat while I’m still awake enough to do so.”

“Your parents said they were going to take care of that actually,” Dash smiled as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to Fenton Works.

“Seriously?  But they hate cooking.”

“I thought you said they couldn’t cook?”

“Ehh it all equates to about the same thing I guess,” Danny shrugged, “I just don’t know why they’d want to cook for me or anything when they know I don’t mind cooking my own meals and stuff for everyone el-OW!  What was that for?”

Danny rubbed his shoulder where Dash hit him and glared at him hard.  The blond however shook his head in disbelieve at what he was hearing and turned on his turn signal as they came to a red light.

“They’re proud of you, doofus, and they knew you’d be tired so they wanted to do something nice for you.  Don’t be stupid.  Like I said they were really proud of how well you did today.”

“Y-yeah… Guess you’re right, sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize, just quit being stupid.  I mean you should know by now that your parents are proud of everything you do.”

“I know… it’s just sometimes they’re really embarrassing with how much they care and sometimes even how they show it.  Like they can’t cook well, they know this, but still they’re going to try to go through a lot of effort now for something when I’d just as soon settle for a sandwich or something.  They mean well but… yeah it’s still a bit embarrassing I guess.”

“Tell me about it…” Dash muttered to himself softly thinking back on the talk he had had with the Fenton parents about their sex lives and his.

“What do you mean?”  Danny asked and Dash flinched.  He hadn’t meant to be heard but apparently his boyfriend had sharper hearing than he thought.  Glancing at the guy in the passenger side seat, Dash quickly ran through what his option could be but decided to just get it over and done with.

“I… might have been staring at you a bit hard when you got out of the pool and your dad caught me and… asked if he needed to get us some ‘supplies’…”

Danny groaned and buried his face in his hands and Dash could only imagine how red his cheeks were at that point.

“Dad…!  I swear this is worse than when they gave me the Talk,” Dash glanced over at hearing the pronoun choice and raised his brow curiously.

“You mean… they both sat down and talked to you about the birds and the bees?”

“Oh no, they sat me down and explained EVERYTHING to me… how to procreate, how to make love, how two guys are supposed to do it, they made sure I knew about condoms, safe sex, taught me the parts of each gender’s genitals and where all the hot spots were, explained how to enter a vagina, how to enter an anus, what to do if I was ever with a virgin girl, and pretty much gave me a ton of pamphlets on just about everything that I, as a guy, would need to know in regards to sex… It was humiliating and mortifying despite how informative it was.”

“Geeze… All my dad did was hand me a condom, told me how to use it and then said that if he was a grandfather before he was 45 he’d make sure I’d never need to worry about condoms with a girl again.  Then he unlocked the parental controls on my computer and told me to go nuts.”

“And how long did it take you to figure out that naked girls aren’t your thing?”

“I’d already crossed that bridge before then, actually, it just took me awhile to actually admit it to myself,” Dash confessed blushing as he finally pulled into the Fenton’s driveway, “But after that I did look around some more just to see if maybe I could be bi, but… yeah I just preferred guys 100%.  Athletic, toned, clean, dark haired… Also started reading a lot of gay romance stories online and started to develop a love for guys that were a bit bigger and smaller than each other…”

“You mean like how I’m a few inches shorter than you?”

“Yeah… just how one guy would rest his head on top of the shorter one, and how the bigger guy could hold onto the smaller one and curl up together and just… things.”  Dash smiled bashfully and couldn’t look at Danny.  It wasn’t that he was embarrassed at having these feelings, but it was embarrassing for him to admit it in such a sappy manner.

A sudden press of lips on his cheek startled him out of his thoughts and as Dash turned to look at Danny he saw the sweetest of smiles across his lips.  He didn’t have to say anything; he didn’t think it was silly or stupid.  Dash could read the look on Danny’s face like a book; he thought it was sweet and not something to be ashamed of.

“C’mon… let’s get inside, I bet my parents have already started to make something and if there’s nothing else there should be something like chips to snack on while they get it ready.”

Danny had not been wrong in that.  As soon as they stepped into the house they could hear the sounds of pots and pans banging around in the kitchen.  The pair had stopped by the store and gotten some fish to fry for dinner that night along with all sorts of Danny’s favorites.  It was actually really sweet in Dash’s opinion on how proud they were of their son and it felt even better to be a part of it all.

After dinner and once everything was cleaned up, the teens decided to watch a movie and the adults made themselves scarce by going downstairs to the lab to work on something.  The two sat together, bellies full and content, with the mindless action movie on and cuddled up together.  Dash had his arms around Danny and every so often would rub his sides with his large hands.  He loved touching the smaller teen and Danny never seemed opposed to it either. 

As it got later Dash started to notice that Danny was rolling his shoulders and trying to fight off sleep more and more.  He should have noticed it earlier, but between the meal and relaxing the thought that Danny might be exhausted hadn’t crossed his mind.  Standing up, he reached under Danny’s legs and, ignoring the ‘Dash what are you doing, put me down’, carried him over to a chair to sit him down while he went back to pull out the bed from the couch.

“Take off your shirt and lay down here,” Danny stared dumbly at him for a moment not moving and finally Dash walked over to him and pulled the shirt he was wearing off leaving him only in the bike shorts he had been lounging around in.

“Now are you going to lie down on the bed there or do I have to pick you up again?”

“Well as much fun as that would be…” Danny smirked as he walked over to the bed while Dash rolled his eyes, “I suppose I’ll just do as you ask, but if you were tired you should have said something I would have moved so we could pull out the bed.”

“I’m not tired.  You’re the one who’s tired.  You’re sore, stiff, and you pushed yourself a lot today so I’m going to rub your back and shoulders a bit for you.”

That certainly woke up the teenager.  He stared at Dash for another minute before he shook his head and tried to wave it off by sitting up.

“Hey, you don’t have to worry about that, Dash, I’m fine, really.  I’m a bit sore but it’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Just let me do this for you, Danny… Geeze.  You’ll feel better and more relaxed after a rub down and it will loosen up your muscles so they don’t cramp up on you.”

Dash thought he might have been a bit pushy about it, but he knew this would be beneficial and relaxing to Danny.  Thankfully the ghostly teen didn’t give up any more resistance to the idea and turned around to lay on his stomach.

With his boyfriend in place Dash cracked his knuckles and started by firmly press his thumbs into the back of the shoulders and started to work them in small circles.  While that was going on Dash used his fingers to grab and perform a similar motion on the front of the shoulder.  The results were sharp hisses followed by soft grunts which eased into content moaning as the knots were slowly worked out of the tightened muscle tissue.

“Oh man… Where’d you learn to do this, Dash this feels great,” Danny moaned into the mattress.

“Uh… from doing it to Kwan actually…”  Dash chuckled nervously and gulped when Danny turned his head to look at him, waiting for him to say more.

“Well sometimes after a hard work out we’d take turns working out the muscles in our backs for each other.  We got pretty good at figuring out how to do this after a while.”

“Kwan has got to be the most open minded straight guy that has ever graced this planet,” Dash laughed at the comment nodding his head in agreement before he went back to working out a particularly bad knot in the middle of Danny’s back.

Things continued on that way for a while.  Dash rubbing Danny’s back and shoulders while the TV played in the background.  Both teens were content with how things were and nothing else needed to be done.  After Dash was done, Danny tried to return the favor but Dash couldn’t help but grunt and cringe from how hard he squeezed and pushed in places.

“Sorry… Guess I’m no good at this stuff, huh?”

“It just takes practice, don’t worry,” Dash consoled him after he had given up. 

After the rub down though, Dash said that they needed to get to sleep.  Danny had had a long day and they had plans to train together tomorrow so they both needed their rest.

“You really did do great today, Danny.”  The teens had shed their shirts and were lying down under a spare blanket when Dash spoke up. 

“I know, Dash, and I appreciate it.”  The shorter teen smiled down at him as he turned off the lights and squirmed his way into the blanket.

After that Dash didn’t say anything or move.  He just laid there on his side, watching the rise and fall of Danny’s chest thinking.  He thought about how well he had done at the race today, he thought about Adam, he had thoughts about his training in both football and fighting ghosts, but most of all he thought about his life in general and even fantasies of what could happen did not help ease his mind to slumber.

“You alright?”

Dash jumped slightly startled when he saw Danny looking at him with a mix of sleepy concern.

“Yeah… just having trouble falling asleep.  Lots of thoughts about lots of things and I guess it’s making it hard to calm down and sleep.”

Danny stared at him for a moment and Dash tried to give him a smile, but instead of any kind of comfort the shorter teen turned his back to him.  For a second Dash felt hurt at such a cold treatment but that was quickly replaced by the warmth of a body moving back into him and curling up.  After he found a comfortable place Danny then reached around and pulled Dash’s arm over his body.

“Danny?”  Dash couldn’t keep the small amount of joy he was feeling from Danny’s bare back pressed up against his own naked chest.

“I’ve heard that when two people are close enough to each other that their breathing and heart rates can start to synch.  I figure this might help you get to sleep faster, and plus it’s something I think we’d both enjoy.”  Dash couldn’t see him, but he could feel when Danny pulled his arm tighter around him and squeezed it with his own.  After only a moment longer Dash moved his own arms and body around to get comfortable ending up hugging Danny like a giant warm teddy bear.  It was sweet and peaceful and just about everything that Dash had ever imagined cuddling someone would be like.  There weren’t any pretenses, no raging hormones telling him to do things, just him and Danny together and that’s all it needed to be.

“Hey, Danny?”

“Yeah, Dash?”  Danny gave a big yawn clearly barely staying awake now.

“Nothing,” Dash gave a slight kiss to the back of Danny’s neck and thought to himself ‘I love you’ before closing his own eyes.  Danny made a happy noise at the kiss and soon enough Dash felt his breath evening out.

He knew he had missed a perfect chance to admit his feelings and cross into a new level of their relationship, but he felt it would be better to say those three words when Danny was actually awake enough to hear them.  For now the ghostly hero of Amity Park slumbered on curled up in his arms, and that was all that Dash needed.  For him, to know that he loved Danny and to have him in his arms was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy these sweet moments while they last. There's still a big boss battle looming in the future and that can't be overlooked. Still though this was a fun chapter to write and I liked writing these two teens as huge dorks because that's what they are sometimes and they need moments like these because true moments of peace are rare in the life of superheroes and their significant others.


	11. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fights happen, people get hurt, friends are gathered, and forces are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nope, not dead and this is still going. So hope you all had a Merry Christmas and/or that your Hanukkah/Kwanzaa season is going well.   
> So for this chapter there’s an Easter egg in this chapter that hints about something that is going to happen in the winter. See if you can spot it. Also here is where things are going to start getting tense and the enemy starts to reveal themselves. No telling what’s going to happen just yet though, but I am working on this and keeping it going. I’m just real slow at it.  
> That being said though: Danny’s priorities might be a bit off when it comes to fights sometimes.

 

“Sooo…” Kwan spoke up from his spot under the tree that Danny had claimed as his since the first day of school, “We’ve got our homecoming game this week, and after that is the dance.”

Danny looked at him and Dash gave his friend a curious look as well trying to figure out what he was trying to hint at while the rest of their small group ate their lunches.  Over the past few weeks a few members of the swim team had started to join Danny in eating outside and when it became obvious that Dash and Kwan liked hanging out with their new friend, several more members of the football team joined them too.  Along with the football players came their girlfriends on occasion, and some of the female swimmers who joined them brought their boyfriends sometimes.  It wasn’t often but normally there were at least five to eight other people with Danny and Dash during lunch.  The dark haired teen didn’t mind, though, having so many friends and acquaintances around was a nice change of pace from his previous years as an outcast of the school. 

Unfortunately this meant that Dash and him had to talk with careful with how they talked to each other and about how they touched and interacted.  It was a chore and Danny really didn’t like having to pretend to be ‘just friends’ with Dash, but he also didn’t want to come out to the high school just yet.  He wasn’t sure how his team would react, let alone the football players, so the fear that they would react negatively kept them both from announcing they were a couple.

“Yeah?”  Dash asked finally after Kwan had failed to say anything else, “What about it?”

“Just wondering if you’re going to go this year is all and if anyone has got any dates yet?”

Both young men glared at Kwan at that knowing what he was asking and knowing he knew their answer to that already.  Danny discretely glanced at Dash to see how he had taken it and was taken back and slightly impressed with the angry glare the blond was giving his friend.

‘If looks could kill.’ Danny thought.

“No…” Dash said very slowly and carefully, “I don’t think I’ll go this year.  Might just head home after the game.”

“Aww… Dash you can’t do that,” one of the female members of the swim team said looking surprised, “It’s your last homecoming game, you’re the quarterback, and you’re a candidate for homecoming king.  You should come if only to have some fun even if you don’t have a date or anything.”

“Rachel, leave him alone.  If he doesn’t want to go he doesn’t have to.  I’m not going after all so it’s not like he’ll be the only one missing.”  Another girl spoke up from beside her while adjusting her glasses.

“Heather, the only reason you’re not going is because you’re leaving earlier that day to go to your cousin’s wedding in Chicago, you’d go if you didn’t have to go to that.”  Rachel scoffed as she shook her head.

And from there conversations started up about the dance, who was going, who was going with whom, and more details that didn’t matter to Danny.  In all honesty he wanted to go, but going stag didn’t really seem as much fun as having a date.  He looked over at Dash who looked annoyed with everything and then back at Kwan who seemed like he regretted opening this can of worms.  It was actually looking like talk about homecoming was all that was going to be talked about for the rest of their lunch period until a loud yell startled everyone out of their reverie

“Sorry…” Frank spoke sheepishly as everyone stared at him, “A bee flew in my face…”

The big guy curled in on himself and his already dark skin got even darker as blood rushed to his face in embarrassment.  It was sad really that he even felt the need to apologize for that.  He was allergic to bees after all so having one fly by him was like having a knife being waved at his face.

“Hey, Frank, it’s not your fault you’re allergic to bees.  You have every right to be afraid of them after what happened to you.”  Danny shrugged and tried to put as much sincerity as he could into his tone.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.  We were just surprised is all, for a second I thought you might have seen a ghost or something.”  Kwan joked absentmindedly but they all immediately flinched again as screaming erupted from the cafeteria.

“I swear, Kwan if that is a ghost causing that I am going to punch you,” Heather sighed and looked back at the building in question as more screams started to ring out.

As if on cue several kids started to run out screaming and a puff of cold air escaped Danny’s mouth, though only Dash and him saw it.  Dash shot him a concerned look and Danny had to hold himself back from just running away without any slight cause.

“Everyone run!” One of the screaming kids shouted, “There’s a ghost in the school and he’s majorly pissed off and looking for Phantom!”

“Well you heard him!”  Dash barked out, gaining everyone’s attention as he stood up, “This isn’t a drill, you know what we’re supposed to do: Clear the area until someone gives the ‘all clear’!”

It was a rule that had been implemented in their sophomore year.  If a ghost attacked during lunch, between periods, or just attacked an area then the students and teachers were to clear the halls, rooms, or building until someone said that it was safe again.  It wasn’t a big thing after all these years, what with most ghosts no longer seeking to destroy him, but still it was something that happened on occasion and Danny was glad for it.  It made his job just a little bit easier.

After Heather did hit Kwan in the shoulder the others started to quickly gather up their things and as soon as they did they started to run towards the main building where they would hopefully be safe.  Danny, however held back and once everyone was far enough he handed his bag to Dash to carry.

“Think you’ll be able to make your next classes?”  Dash shouldered the bag Danny gave him and looked at him concerned.

“Dunno, depends on who it is.  Might be nothing, might be something big.  I’ll text you though if it looks like I won’t be back and if I miss my last classes just take my stuff and drop it off at my place.”

“You got it,” Dash winked and watched as Danny looked around quickly and transformed.  The rings passed over his body and left behind his tight black jumpsuit and white hair where his street clothes had once been.

“Man that is hot,” Dash gave a playful growl which caused Danny to just shake his head in amusement.

“Alright, down boy, I gotta go.”

“Hey,” Dash dropped his playful tone and looked at him seriously, “Be careful, alright?”

“Will do.”  With a quick two-fingered salute Danny took off towards the cafeteria turning intangible and invisible as he did so to look around for anything suspicious.  At first he didn’t see any ghost but he knew someone/thing was there when his ghost sense going off.

“Alright, I don’t know who you think you are attacking my school, but come on out!  I don’t have the time or patience to deal with this hide-and-seek garbage!”  Danny clenched his fists and looked around some more trying to find the ghost when he heard another scream from outside.  Remaining intangible Danny flew outside where a delivery truck was parked and saw a couple of men running away.  Flying that way Danny instantly knew who was causing all of the ruckus and let out a very aggravated sigh as a box of something flew right at his head.

“Box Ghost?”  Danny caught the cardboard cube and set it down on the ground, “Just what are you doing here?  I thought you had decided to not cause any more trouble now that your daughter was born?”

“Phantom!”  The blue ghost looked at him wide eyed and seemed to grin in relief at his presence, “Oh thank Robert Gair I found you at last!  I did not know where to find you so I had to cause all this trouble in order to bring you to me!”

“What?”  Danny tilted his head, very confused as to what was just said, “Who is Robert Gair?” 

“Why he is the creator of what we now know the cardboard box to be!  A great man and a revolutionary!”  Box Ghost said with the utmost pride and Danny just stared at him dumbfounded.  In fact he couldn’t even think of anything to say to that for a few moments until he finally blinked and went back to watching him.

“Alright… so…kay…”  Danny shook his head and huffed out a breath, the weirdness of that statement having thrown him for a loop, “Why are you here though?  What did you need to find me for?”

“Huh?”  The ghost looked at him blankly for a moment as if he didn’t understand the question and Danny was about ready to smack him in the head when he startled and flew up right into his face, “That’s right you have to help me!  We were in a park in the Ghost Zone and there was an attack and they took them!”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa!  Slow down, BG, who took who?  What happened exactly?”  He pulled back and watched as the Box Ghost shook seemingly from fear.

“It is like I said we were at a park for smaller and weaker ghosts and large bug like creatures came and attacked everyone.  Most of them got away but they managed to grab onto my wife and daughter!”  It was at this point that the ghost could no longer maintain his ability to fly and fell to the ground shaking and looking a mess, “Please, Phantom!  You have to help them!  I am not strong enough to fight these creatures off and I need your help!”

“Ok, calm down, Boxie, of course I’ll help.  You have to keep it together though.”  Danny tried to placate the other ghost by floating down and putting his hands on his shoulders.  After a second he seemed to calm down and nod, “Ok, now first things first: we have to get back to the Ghost Zone.  After that you think you can show me where you were and where these creatures went?”

“Of course!”  The Box Ghost stuck out his chin like Danny had just insulted him, “I have an excellent sense of direction!” 

Not wanting to waste any more time with that statement Danny just sighed and started to take off with the Box Ghost right beside him.  Whatever had happened sounded like it was pretty bad which meant that he likely wouldn’t be attending his last few classes.  With that in mind Danny pulled out his phone as he was flying and started to text Dash a quick message.

‘Looks like it’s a big thing. Get my stuff 2 my place after school?’

A minute later a new text came from Dash ‘Will do.  Be safe.’

With that handled Danny pocketed his phone and took off as fast as he could wondering if these bug creatures had anything to do with the weird occurrences around town.  In all honesty Danny was getting sick of all these bugs and wanted this all handled but right now he had this issue to deal with.  The Lunch Lady and Box Lunch were like family to him, and hearing that they had been taken by something really ticked him off.

 ‘I’ll make sure they get out safely,’ Danny swore to himself as he took a glance at the Box Ghost flying beside him.

“Hey Boxie, can you describe these guys for me?  What did they look like?”

“Uhh… they were very much like the skeletal warriors that Pariah Dark had.”

‘Well that’s comforting.’ Danny thought sarcastically remembering that whole adventure far too well.

“But instead of just being skeletons they had a lower body of a strange bug like creature.  They were long and had many legs and they also had a tail at the end that they kept held high.”

“A tail?  Like a scorpion tail?  Long segmented and with a stinger?”

“Yes!  That is it exactly!”

“Great… scorpions.”  Danny groaned as Fenton Works came into view and they both flew down through it towards the basement where his parents were looking over some blueprint for something.

“Hey, guys, got something I need to take care of.  Mind calling the school and making up an excuse for why I had to leave?”

His parents jerked in surprise at hearing their son’s voice so suddenly but quickly composed themselves and looked at him concerned.

“Everything alright?”  His mom asked looking at the tension Danny knew he was obviously showing and then at the very distraught ghost beside him.

“Doubt it.  Call Vlad and tell him to meet me in the Ghost Zone as soon as he can.  I don’t know what’s going on just yet but I have a feeling I’m going to need backup.”

“You need any help from us, Danny?”  His dad looked at him concerned already reaching for a bazooka and Danny had to bite his lip to keep him from saying yes right away.

“I think I’m good with just Boxie here leading the way and Vlad for backup.  I won’t be opposed to some weapons and gear though.”  It was hard for him to say it, but it was the truth for the most part.  The only thing that actually kept him from letting his parents back him up was the fact that whatever he was going up against was an unknown entity.  That meant danger that he wasn’t sure he’d be totally able to handle, let alone his parents.

“Well alright, dear, let’s see what we can find for you and your friend here and then I’ll call Vlad,” and with that his mom stood up and started to rummage around in their weapons closet with his dad as Danny went to one of their computers and pulled up a map of the Ghost Zone.

“Ok, Box Ghost, can you show me where this park is and where these guys were heading?  The more we know the better I can get to making some semblance of a plan.”

“The park is near the home of the hunter and just a mile due north-west of the flaming haired singer.”

‘Ok so north-west of Ember’s place by about a mile and near Skulker’s island… ok so it should be about…’ Danny squinted at the image on the screen and pointed at a small area that floated around the area that they didn’t have any real data on, “Here?”

“Yes, that is the park many ghost parents take their children.  With the hunter nearby not many of the more primal ghosts and spirits hang around so it is a safer place for children.”

‘Score one for Skulker I guess,’ Danny thought, “So this was where you were, what direction did they take your wife and kid though?”

“They flew that way!”  The Box Ghost pointed to a part of the screen and Danny frowned thoughtfully at the direction.

‘That’s towards Pandora’s Kingdom… Oh this could be a lot worse than I thought.’

“Danny?”  The teenager looked back at his mother who now had her phone in her hand, “Vlad wants to know where to meet you in the Ghost Zone.”

“Tell him we’ll meet up at this park floating beneath Skulker’s Island.  Once I’m set up we’ll head out and hopefully he won’t have to wait long before heading out.”

His mom relayed the message and he moved to pick up the weapons that his father was laying out for him.  Nothing too big or different: ecto-blasters, grenades, Fenton Gloves, and just the normal arsenal that he was used to plus a few extra goodies that had been used recently.

“The Fenton Flail?”  Danny held up the spiked ball on a chain and looked at his dad with a smirk.

“It’s a good weapon!”  His dad huffed sounding defensive, “You don’t know what you’re going up against and if nothing else you can’t go wrong with bashing some heads in with this baby.”

Not able to argue with that logic, Danny strapped on all the gear and got ready.  His parents told him to be careful and he said he would right as he flew into the portal with the Box Ghost right behind him.

Flying as fast as the Box Ghost could so he wouldn’t lose him; it took a little longer to get to Skulker’s island than it normally did.  It still didn’t take too terribly long but at least taking a little longer than normal meant that by the time they had gotten there Vlad was already looking around at what had once been a park.

It was actually fairly tragic to see.  The wreckage of colorful play sets lay scattered about in ruins and all around there were blasts and holes from Danny figured to be ecto-blasts.  Jungle gyms were torn up, swing sets were collapsed, and everything just screamed destruction.  Danny had never seen this place before today but he could easily tell that this was a tragedy for the ghosts that lived around here.

“Ah, Daniel, I take it from your mother’s message that this is much more serious than a simple ghost destroying a park?”  Vlad lifted his gaze from examining a piece of wreckage.

“Boxie here says some strange ghosts like Pariah’s skeletons came by and kidnapped his wife and kid.  Said they had scorpion tails and were bug like, and we all know that’s not a good sign lately.”

“Indeed,” Vlad frowned, “And without any more to go on from Headliner this might be our first big clue as to what is going on in the Ghost Zone.”

“Abducting ghosts certainly seems like a good step in causing a great deal of destruction,” Danny agreed and then pointed towards Pandora’s realm, “And Boxie here said they went that way.”

“They flew in the direction where that giant hive was located?”  Vlad frowned, “This is most certainly not good.”

“I doubt that whoever is behind this would still use that place, but it’s where they were flying off towards so we might as well head that way.” 

With no further argument from Vlad the three ghosts flew off together.  Danny knew that is was a longshot that the hive would be used as a base again, if it was even still there, but it was all they had to go on.  Besides that the single fact they flew in the same direction as the hive was had to mean something, but for the life of him, Danny couldn’t figure out what.

“Hey, Vlad… What would anyone want to kidnap a ghost for anyway?”  That had been something else he had been trying to figure out but hadn’t had much luck in thinking over.  Honestly he had no idea why other ghosts would kidnap another unless it was to somehow use their powers like Walker had done with Wulf.

“Hard to say really… Ghosts are essentially bodies of concentrated ectoplasm though, so if those ghosts were trying to gain power by first taking the ectoplasm from surrounding areas then maybe they have gotten strong enough to capture ghosts and are now going to try to drain them of their energy which would leave behind nothing but empty dried-out husks.”

Behind them the Box Ghost whimpered pitifully thinking about his wife and daughter essentially dying like that and Danny shot Vlad an incredulous look though the man just shrugged unapologetically.

“You asked, Daniel, and I just answered.”

Shaking his head in disbelief Danny just focused on flying again.  More signs of battle could be seen in small remote areas as they flew by and it looked like whatever was going on was focusing more on small scale tactics so not to draw as much attention.  That however didn’t mean that it didn’t draw more attention than they attended, if what was going on ahead was any indication.

“What in this world?”  Danny squinted trying to see what was going off in the distance but couldn’t see what exactly was going on, “I’m going to fly on ahead, you two catch up!”

Before Vlad could protest, Danny took off towards strange dark blasts shooting across a floating section of rock.  The teenager didn’t know what exactly he was looking at from a distance, but he could see a battle raging regardless of the details he lacked.  If he was lucky it might be someone who had gotten caught up by those creatures the Box Ghost had mentioned and he could lend a hand and maybe follow the thing back to its lair.  If he was unlucky though he’d just watch for a moment and keep flying by if it was just two ghosts fighting over something petty.

“GIVE HER BACK!”

As it turned out his luck was both good and bad.  It was good because the half-skeleton half-scorpion creatures were there fighting a ghost.  The bad luck though was that said ghost was Johnny 13 and his ghostly shadow they were fighting.

Only there was something different about Johnny.  He wasn’t on his bike like he normally was and he seemed to be emitting a dark glow around him.  Danny also couldn’t see his shadow anywhere that he normally used to fight with.  Instead Johnny was fighting all on his own with black blasts of energy.

Not bothering to think about what this implied, Danny instead turned his attention to his ally’s opponents and instantly tensed.  Glowing green skeletons scurried around shooting their own green ecto-beams at Johnny despite them not seeming to have any effect on him when they hit.  What had Danny on edge though were the multitude of legs and giant scorpion tails that each one had.  They reminded him slightly of those old Greek myths of the half-man half-horse centaurs, only instead of a horse lower half they had a scorpion one.  It was frightening to say the least and beyond disturbing to say the most.

Taking a quick look around Danny saw that there were at least 20 of these creatures fighting Johnny.  What drew his attention though was a small group of them carrying a large box on their shoulders.  The thing looked durable and from the way the creatures guarded it there had to be something very important in it. 

“GIVE HER BACK TO ME!!!”  Johnny screamed again and this time Danny saw his eyes go completely black.  He slapped his hands together in front of him and then started to slowly pull them apart.  At first Danny couldn’t tell what he had done before he noticed things seemed to be getting drawn up to him.  Before he could form an idea about what might be going on though he started to see a small black orb floating between Johnny’s hands that only got bigger the further apart he drew his hands apart.  He also noticed that as the orb got bigger more rocks and air got pulled into it.

“Holy crap!  He’s made a black hole!”  He couldn’t believe it but there was no other way to describe the mass of darkness that was drawing everything towards it including the ecto-blasts that the creatures were still firing.  As Johnny kept moving his hands apart the hole slowly got bigger and when it finally got to be the size of a tire one of the closer creatures lost their footing and fell to the ground where it was dragged towards it.  The thing didn’t stand a chance and tried to claw its way back but the gravity was growing too strong and the suction was pulling things in faster and faster.  It finally lost its hold on the ground and was pulled into the air where it was quickly sucked in and compressed.  If it hadn’t been so sickening to actually see Danny would have been impressed by this ability of Johnny’s and he had to wonder why he had never used it before.

Ignoring the sheer terror that this guy could have at one point crushed him into a quantum singularity, though, Danny flew down behind him and approached slowly, “Johnny?” 

“Huh?”  He looked back at Danny and the teenager had to force himself not to flinch at the sight.  The ghost’s normally green eyes had become completely black and everything from his hair to his skin looked darker, “Kid?”

“Johnny, what’s going on what happened?”  Danny was almost certain what had happened but he needed to hear it to be certain.

“Kitty… They took Kitty…!”  Johnny’s voice was even changing.  It was gravely and rough like the words were hard to get out.

“She’s in that box isn’t she?”  Johnny gave a nod and Danny turned his gaze to the box before looking back at the black hole that, while it was still sucking things up, seemed to be slowing down.

“How long can you hold that up?”

“Not much longer…” 

“Right, then just give me a minute more!”  And it was really all the time he needed.  With these creatures busy trying not to be dragged back they couldn’t really fight back, and that made them easy targets for him.  Flying up above Johnny, Danny pulled out the Fenton Flail and slung it at them knocking them to pieces where many were sucked up.  With that done Johnny’s black hole finally collapsed and he fell to his knees.  The only ones that still remained in one piece were the ones that were still holding the box but they wouldn’t pose any more of a threat to them.

It was basically nothing more than a simple simulation.  All Danny had to do was fire a few shots, erect a quick shield to protect them both, and fire an ice blast and that was it.  After the rest had been hit with his ice blast they were all beaten and in pieces scattered about the rocky terrain.  Behind him Johnny was on his knees panting hard but slowly regaining his normal color.

“Kitty… Kitty… They got,” Johnny tried to reach out towards the now unguarded box but Danny knelt by him and put a hand on his back.

“Easy, Johnny, easy; it’s ok we beat those things and I’m going to get her out now.  Just stay there and try to catch your breath.”

When no reply was given to his order Danny flew over to the box and examined it some.  He kicked a few of the bones away and then knocked on the panels to see if there was any kind of weak points in it.  After a few light taps, though, he failed to see how the thing might have opened and just growled in frustration.

“Ah to hell with this,” he grunted annoyed and used the Fenton Flail to repeatedly bash one side of the box as hard as he could manage.  After it was sufficiently dented and started to crack he blasted it with as much force as he could spare and smiled as the side busted to pieces.  As soon as the pieces fell numerous ghosts flew out and with barely a glance and without any thanks they all flew off; likely to put as much distance between them and the creatures that had attacked them as they could.

Amongst the several ghosts that flew out, Danny kept his eyes out for any familiar female ghosts.  He knew Kitty had been in there, and he hoped that the Lunch Lady and Box Lunch had also been as well.  Sadly it didn’t seem like those two were in there, but thankfully Kitty was.

“KITTY!”  Danny called out to her before she could fly off and she quickly turned around to see who had called her name.

“Danny?”  She flew down to him ignoring the rest of the ghosts that flew off, “What are you doing here?  Where’s Johnny?”

“I came because Box Ghost said his wife and daughter had been captured, as for Johnny he’s right there.  He did… something to try to save you.”

“He didn’t…” She turned quickly to look at her boyfriend as he tried to keep himself from falling flat on his face, “JOHNNY!”

She didn’t pay any more attention to Danny after seeing him and rushed to his side.  Overall he was fine but she still kneeled by him and tried her best to help him stand up by letting him put most of his weight on her since he lacked the strength to stand on his own.  He was still panting hard trying to catch his breath as they stood up, but when he caught sight of Kitty it was like nothing else mattered.  Johnny just gazed up at her and tiredly brought up his hand to stroke her face.

“Oh Kitty… I thought I was gonna lose you…”  He smiled but Kitty didn’t reflect the gesture.  Instead it looked like she was trying very hard not to cry.

“You idiot… You know you can’t use that power well and you went and used it anyway didn’t you?”

“Had to… save you… Besides, it worked didn’t it?  And hey… it bought some time… for the kid to show up… so I didn’t have to go all out.”  Johnny looked over to Danny and honestly he was almost startled with how sickly he was looking now.

“Daniel!”

‘And speaking of sick looking people’ Danny looked up at the blue face of Vlad as he finally reached them and flew down to him with the Box Ghost right behind him, “What happened here?”

“That’s sort of what I want to know,” Danny looked at him blandly before he cast his gaze at Johnny and Kitty, “Mind filling us in on some of the details now that we’re safe?”

“We were just riding along, minding our own business.  Then out of nowhere those… things,” Johnny jerked his head at the pile of bones, “Shot us down.  I crashed my bike but we were still pretty ok until they came swooping down on us and grabbed Kitty and stuffed her in that box.  After that I flew after them and shot at them until they landed here and fought until you came in.”

“And that black hole you made?”  Danny asked.

“‘Black hole’?”  Vlad looked at him and then back to the pair clearly surprised by hearing that a ghost had the ability to make such a thing.

“That would have been one of his more dangerous powers,” Kitty said with a clear air of annoyance about her.

“You mind cluing us in then, Kitty?” Danny asked her and she just rubbed at her head like she was fighting off a headache.

“Ok, so like I don’t know exactly what a black hole is, don’t care to know either.  But see Johnny can fuse with his shadow sometimes and it gives him a real power boost.  He can shoot super dense blasts of dark ectoplasm and from what I’ve seen it looks like he can slightly control darkness and gravity around him.  Anyway that black hole thing is when he collects his shadow and power and compresses it until it starts to suck everything into it.  From the few times I’ve seen it, it doesn’t look like anything can live through that.  The cost of it though is that he can’t use his normal bad luck shadow for a long time and he’s pretty much defenseless until it comes back.”

“Why did you never use that kind of power on me though back when we were fighting?  It seems like it would make a great trump card to keep yourself from being thrown back in here.”

“I can only use it when Kitty’s in danger,” Johnny said smiling despite how drained he was, “It doesn’t matter though, because she’s back with me and-AHHH!” 

A blast of green hit Johnny in the back before anyone could notice anything and Danny jerked his head to see that the skeletons had started to pull themselves back together.  Vlad quickly threw up a barrier as more blasts started to come at them and Danny quickly turned back to Johnny who was now on his knees only being held up by Kitty with a large wound on his back leaking ectoplasm from where he’d been hit.  The air stank of his burning flesh and he clenched his teeth like he was trying very hard not to scream in pain.

“Johnny!”  Kitty stroked his face that was now breaking into a sweat with tears in her eyes but he merely smiled up at her like everything was fine.

“It’s ok, Kitten, I’m fine… So long as you’re safe I’m fine…”  He slowly closed his eyes and fell forward and Danny just barely managed to catch him before he could drop out of Kitty’s hands.

“He’s still breathing,” Danny quickly reassured Kitty who was now weeping in fear of what had happened, “He’s just unconscious but we have to get him medical attention now.  Vlad, deal with those things!”

“No…”  Kitty slowly stood up and looked back at the creatures that had hurt Johnny, “They’re mine…”

Danny didn’t even try to argue with Kitty as she flew up and over the shield Vlad had created to face the skeletons.  Before they could turn their sights on her though, she brought her fingers up to her lips and blew out a pair of blue lips that grew larger and swept over them and caused them to vanish.  Danny couldn’t spot any trace of them and honestly it terrified him as to just what that attack might have done after seeing her boyfriend make a black hole.

“Just what…was that?”  Danny turned his gaze to the girl feeling more and more out of the loop than he’d been in years.

“I can blow a kiss and make any boy it hits vanish from this reality or something,” She shrugged looking completely unconcerned about it as she walked back over to them, “If I blow another within 12 hours they can come back but if I don’t they stay gone, and I don’t plan on bringing those losers back so don’t even ask.”

“Fair enough I guess…”  Danny looked back at where the creatures had been and thought back some.  He did seem to recall his sister and Sam telling him about a time that Kitty, Ember, and _her_ had tried to take over the city and banished all the males, but it was something else to witness it firsthand.  Taking his eyes away from the scene he turned back to Johnny as he laid panting and groaning in his arms.  Vlad had come over and started looking him over but the look on his face was not alleviating the concern Danny felt.

“This will require a great deal of medical treatment; the likes of which we cannot do with makeshift bandages from torn clothes.  If we want to save this boy we are going to need to take him back to your parents’ lab.”

“NO!  We cannot leave!  My wife and daughter are still out there; taken by these cruel creatures!”  The Box Ghost shouted out looking more afraid that they’d turn back than angry at the idea of abandoning his family.

“And we won’t,”  Danny looked at Kitty and frowned at her, she looked far too weak from her containment to be able to fly with Johnny and he feared what would happen to them if they got attacked again, “Boxie, you think you can use the parts of that container to fly Johnny back to my parents’ lab?  Me and Vlad will go after these guys and get your family back but we need you to take care of these two, alright?”

“You promise that you will get them back for me?” 

“I swear it, Boxie,” Danny spoke resolutely and certainly not only to ease the worry in the Box Ghost’s mind but to push himself to make it happen.  Battles were lost the moment you started to doubt yourself, so saying out loud that you were going to do something, no matter what, helped to boost the chances of winning.  At least that’s what Danny thought.

“Very well then,” the ghost nodded, “I shall entrust you with the wellbeing of my family, and you will face my doom if you don’t bring them back safe and sound.”

“Got it, Boxie…” Danny sighed as the ghost levitated a piece of the box over to them and helped lay Johnny down on it.  The ghost put up such airs and tried to act tough but he wasn’t all that strong so when he said things like that it took all of Danny’s ‘maturity’ and will power not to just roll his eyes at him.

Once Johnny was loaded on the trio of ghosts took off leaving Danny with Vlad who was examining the scene and looking at a projection coming from his wrist.

“That a map of the Ghost Zone?”  Danny peered around at the hologram as Vlad nodded and looked forward again, “They were heading towards where that hive was… Think we have a chance at getting Boxie’s family back?”

“It’s hard to say Daniel… It may be hard, it may be impossible, but then again it just as well could be easy.  We can’t figure these things out before we have more information.”

“Got it.  So…”  Danny started to fly up off the floating rock and gestured ahead of them with a wave of his hand, “Shall we depart?”

Vlad rolled his eyes at the theatrical tone Danny used but chose not to say anything as they started to fly off together.  Keeping their eyes peeled for any more signs of trouble they noticed that things seemed to be fairly calm and peaceful in this area of the Zone.  Danny thought that if something had been coming along and kidnapping other ghosts that it would have surely caused a large commotion but things seemed normal around them, though it seemed almost abnormally quiet after a few minutes of flying in silence.

“It’s too quiet,” Danny glanced around warily.

“Yes, there should be more commotion if someone is kidnapping ghosts, but we’re almost back to where that hive is so hopefully we’ll find something there at least.”

And indeed they did.  The giant hive was right where it had been the last time and looked the same as it had then.  Still enormous, still green, still crawling with all manner of ghostly insects of all shapes and sizes, but the one thing that was new was the collection of those skeleton creatures down below and a strange looking ghost examining the various crates.

“Please tell me that you’re seeing a ghost like creature with butterfly wings, Vlad.  Because if you’re not I seriously think I need to get back home.”

“No, I see it as well…”  The ghost in question was tall and had a thin looking frame with large butterfly wings that were as long as the ghost was tall.  From the distance they were at Danny couldn’t make out a lot of details about them but he could see that the wings had various green and black patters on them.  As they fluttered about examining each container Danny also noticed that the ghost’s skin was pale blue and along with white hair that went down to their shoulders a pair of yellow colored feathery antennae adorned their head.  What was even more unusual than all that though, was dark gray armor that they wore.

“A humanoid bug ghost wearing armor… Interesting.”  Vlad held his chin and studied the scene before them but Danny just shook his head thinking about how this had become his life.

“We have to get down there and bust those ghosts out, Vlad!  Come on, we go in guns a blazing and they won’t even stand a chance!”

“That hardly seems like a good plan, Daniel,” and the sarcasm practically oozed out from Vlad’s mouth from that obvious fact but Danny didn’t let that stop him.

“Look we both know this is going to lead to a fight.  We can either go in now, try to take out the butterfly guy, and break apart the troops or we can risk sneaking around and getting found out before we can act.  We don’t know anything about them so a surprise attack makes the most sense here.”

“As much as it pains me to admit, that actually makes sense.”  Vlad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose looking like he was fighting off a headache, “I take it you want to lead the charge?”

Danny didn’t even respond to that, he just took right off and started blasting at the skeletal scorpions ignoring Vlad screaming his name in frustration.  He managed to hit several of the boney creatures with well-aimed ecto blasts as he swooped down with Vlad closing in right behind him and between the two of them they managed to weed down their numbers to a more manageable size.  Before either of them could hit the butterfly creature, though, they managed to jump into the air to dodge the blasts with surprising agility.

“Ah the legendary Danny Phantom,” the butterfly’s high pitched voice smiled mischievously as it fluttered over them, “I was wondering if I would ever meet the thorn that has been in my master’s side for so long now.”

“Master?”  Danny stared at them confused.

“Ah I see you don’t know of my master, it is a shame, truly, that you won’t get to see him in all his elegance, but you see you have been thwarting his plans for far too long now.  That means that I will have to kill you here and now.”

Danny didn’t say anything, he just continued to stare and as Vlad stood beside him the butterfly just started to laugh.

“Oh dear, are you already so afraid of the power that I am emitting that you can’t even speak?  And here I thought you would be a challenge.”

“It’s not that, no…”  Danny shook his head confused, “I can sense your power and you’re strong alright, but nothing that me and Vlad can’t handle, I’m just… confused.”

“Confused by what, Daniel?  I thought it was clear that we just have to defeat all these creatures and save the ghosts that they have captured.  What more do you need to know?”  Vlad asked with a tone that sounded like he thought Danny had lost his mind.

“Well… Geeze, there’s no real polite way to ask this so I’m just going to ask: do you prefer male or female pronouns?”

Nothing was said to that.  The ghost didn’t say anything, Danny just continued to stare, and from behind him he heard Vlad making some kind on unintelligible noise.

“What…?”  The ghost before them spoke with such deadpan that it actually made Danny shrug hopelessly.

“I mean I can’t tell exactly because your armor might be hiding your body structure what gender you might be and I understand if you prefer female terms and all but I’m just not sure how to address you, do I say that ‘we fought this male ghost’ or ‘we fought this female ghost’ or do you prefer that whole non-binary ‘them’ ‘they’ and such?  I’m not really positive how it works but I don’t want to be rude if you like prefer to be referred to as male, female or neither.”

“Are you… Seriously asking… about this ghosts… PREFERED PRONOUNS?!”  Vlad screamed and Danny had to rub his ear at how loud it had been, “Daniel this creature is attacking ghosts and is about to try to destroy us!”

“So?  That doesn’t mean we can’t be polite and refer to them in the manner they want to be!”  Danny huffed offended and honestly expecting better of Vlad.  He thought the guy would have better manners than this.

“Who cares what it prefers to be called!  It is evil and working for someone who likely played a part in the destruction of all those domains during the summer!”

“Really, Vlad?”  This time Danny turned to face him full on and couldn’t help the look of utter shock on his face, “‘It’?  I mean really I expected better of you, I mean just because we’re going to battle to the possible death does not mean you should be so rude to refer to a sentient creature as an ‘it’.  That is just beyond rude!”

“Well excuse me for having my priorities in check!”

“Well excuse ME for having parents that raised me to be polite!”

“Oh please, Daniel just last week you were insulting a man who was going door to door handing out flyers to a church function.”

“Yeah, and I know for a fact that that church sponsors ‘cure-camps’ for gay and transgendered kids in an attempt to ‘fix’ them, like we need fixing at all!”

“Be that as it may that was still rude of you so you can’t very well-:

“Oh yes I can those are the same people who were holding ‘Fags burn in hell’ and picketing around the Pride parade in June.  I’m not going to waste my time being polite to people who can’t even respect me, but at least I can respect this ghost’s gender because that is the right thing to do!”

“Honestly, Daniel, why does it even matter?”

“Because you earn respect by showing respect and the best way to show respect is to be polite and refer to people in the way they want to be referred to.”

“ENOUGH!”  The high pitched voice of the butterfly screeched through the air at them and as both half-ghosts turned to look at them again they saw that the green wings had changed to a very angry shade of red and that the ghost’s blue skin had started to take a very angry color of purple as well, “I AM A MALE, YOU HALFWITS!  MY NAME IS SILK AND I AM GOING TO TAKE GREAT PLEASURE IN DESTROYING YOU BOTH!!!”

“Now see; now that that’s out of the way we can refer to this butterfly guy as a male and not have to make the mistake of confusing him with a female.  I mean I thought he might be a guy but you never know, you know?”  Danny shrugged casually and Vlad dragged his hand down his face.

“I AM A MOTH NOT A BUTTERFLY!  YOU CAN TELL BY MY ANTENNAE!  BUTTERFLIES HAVE LONG SHAFTS WITH A BULB AT THE END WHILE MOTHS ARE FEATHERY LIKE THESE!”  Silk screeched again pointing up at his antennae and looking moments away from just exploding in rage.

“Huh, guess you learn something new every day,” Danny frowned thoughtfully before turning to Vlad, “Speaking of: did you know that a man by the name of Robert Gair is responsible for the cardboard box that we now know of?”

“DANIEL, THIS IS NOT THE TIME!”  Vlad screamed at him.

And indeed it wasn’t because Silk had finally had enough of the teen’s off the wall style humor and charged at them.  Despite the way he looked and the apparent weight of the armor Silk managed to charge at them at a remarkable speed which the two half ghosts just barely managed to dodge.

“Wow didn’t think he’d be that fast with all that armor,” Danny blinked and suddenly sneezed as something tickled his nose.

“Yes, well appearances can be deceiving,” Vlad spoke roughly before clearing his own throat.

“Yes… That is one of the primary rules of the insect kingdom you know…” Silk turned around with murder in his eyes, “Just because something looks beautiful or drab does not mean that it is defenseless or weak… Something you both are starting to understand it seems.”

“What-” Danny sneezed and sniffed hard, “What-ACHOO!”  Danny sniffed again and started to blink his eyes as they felt like something was in them causing them to water.

“Whad did you do?”  Danny didn’t know what had happened but his nose felt stuffed up like he had a horrible cold and looking at Vlad it seemed he wasn’t much better off. 

“You can’t tell…?”  Silk smiled slyly and flapped his wings at them some more.

“Wha…?”  Danny squinted through his swelling eyes and then reached over and pulled Vlad up above where they’d been, “Your wings are poisonous?!”

“Well if you wish to be more precise it is the scales on my wings that are poisonous, but yes.”  He chortled and Danny wished that he could see better so he could blast his face off.

“Daniel,” Vlad coughed out more and pulled his cape over his nose to try to keep the scales from reaching them, “He has us at a disadvantage here that we need to reclaim.  I’m not sure how this might affect us.”

“Yeah, everything’s really starting to look fuzzy… oh wait those are just his head sticks.”  Danny laughed at his attempt at humor and instantly regretted it as Silk screeched and charged at them again.

“THEY ARE ANTENAE!  NOT STICKS, YOU MISERABLE MAMMAL!”

Vlad shoved them apart as Silk charged at them before he followed up with an ecto-blast fired at his back.  Despite his blind charge, though, Silk quickly managed to spin around and up to avoid getting hit.  It was obvious that the ghostly moth preferred the high ground and that it gave him the advantage over his opponents and Danny knew that if they were going to actually stand a chance of winning this fight they were going to have to ground him.

“Vlad?”  Danny sniffed.

“Yes, Daniel,” Vlad coughed, “I see what he’s doing and we need to keep him below us if we are to beat him.”

“You two are not going to beat me!  I was not given this position simply because my master needed some random ghost to do his work.  I am strong and have taken down ghosts with much more power than either of you.  Give up now and I shall make your destruction swift and… Moderately painless.”  He spoke with such arrogance that even half blind Danny could just imagine the smug look on his face.

“Just stay there, Daniel, your eyes are so swollen shut-,” Vlad coughed more and groaned out in pain, “That you can barely see anything.  I’ll finish this quickly.”

Danny wanted to argue, say that he could still fight, but really whatever poison had gotten to him had pretty much caused his eyes to swell shut, not to mention his nose to run.  There was little that he could actually do here and if he tried anything he’d likely only get in the way.

“Keep…Keep a shield up.”  Vlad managed to speak despite his voice quickly leaving him and Danny heard him take off with the sounds of battle quickly starting.  He hated that he couldn’t do anything, but he was blind for the moment and firing ecto-blasts or even ice blasts wouldn’t do any good if he couldn’t get a clear idea of where Silk was. 

“DANIEL!  SHIELD!”  Not even thinking Danny threw up a shield around himself and a split second later he heard the impact of what was likely a very strong blast of ecto-energy hitting it.

‘There’s got to be something I can do here,’ Danny groaned trying to rub the scales out from his eyes, ‘This feels worse than any time the pollen got real bad.’

It was with that thought that a metaphorical light bulb went on over his head.  It was a long shot but if nothing else it might be enough to help keep Silk from flying around too much.

Taking a few deep breaths Danny focused his ice powers into his throat and held it.  He hadn’t used this technique since that summer and it was still pretty draining on him but he could manage this.  The buildup of power was familiar and it was only adding his ice powers to it that made it feel any different.  Letting his lungs fill to capacity he stretched his chest out more trying to take in as much air as he could.  Right when he couldn’t take in anymore air Danny focused his attention to the sky and finally let out his new ‘Wailing Blizzard’ filling the air with a roar like a winter storm. 

At first nothing seemed to happen and the sounds of battle continued, but soon after Danny stopped his wailing he started to feel something wet hit his face.  It wasn’t much at first but soon he started to feel more and more snow falling down on him and Danny could barely fight back the grin on his face as it melted on his skin.  He hadn’t thought he could actually make it snow but he did and if he worked this right it was going to be just the thing to stop Silk.

“Daniel?!”  Vlad coughed some more and by the sounds of it Danny couldn’t tell if he’d just been hurt or if he was just having a harder and harder time to breath.

“Is it snowing, Vlad?”

“KEEP SHIELD!”  Vlad yelled out hoarsely again and Danny quickly did as he was told right before he heard another blast hit it.

“Foolish, half-wits!”  Silk laughed haughtily, “You think this pittance of snow will actually be enough to stop me?”

It didn’t have to stop him in Danny’s opinion.  The snow was accumulating around him and he was collecting it in his hands before rubbing it on his face.  It wasn’t much but Danny could tell that whatever he had done was starting to accelerate and gain momentum.  What had started as a flurry was already starting to move into a heavy snow, and if Danny put as much power into his attack as he thought he had then a blizzard should be well on the way.

“Bah… This may not actually stop me but it is getting annoying!  Just what did you hope to accomplish by doing this, boy?”  Silk growled out right before a sound reached Danny’s ears that sounded like a body being hit by a strong punch.

“In spring the air is always fresher after it rains…”  Danny smiled as he collected more snow and heard more blasts being fired from nearby, “Same could be said after a good snowstorm too!”

“What?!  No!”  Silk sounded shocked and the sounds of wings beating filled the air.  Danny thought he heard a sound like Vlad hitting the ground below them and then more wing beats that seemed to be heading his way, “I will not have you waste my precious scales like this!”

But it was too late.  Vlad had distracted Silk long enough for him to collect enough snow to wash off at least part of his face.  The end result was him finally being able to open his eyes a bit to see but not enough to make out a lot.  That did not matter to Danny though because it was easy to tell that the grey blur that was coming at him was an enemy and nothing else mattered.

Gathering up his ice powers again Danny grinned and shoved both his fists out to shoot twin beams of ice at Silk.  He knew he wasn’t likely to hit the guy but still the sudden grunt and flap of wings was enough to tell him that he’d at least clipped him.

“Damn you… Damn you miserable, half-wits!  You will pay for this indignity you have pushed upon me as well as for stalling my master’s plans again!  It doesn’t matter though, soon, Phantom, soon we’ll be strong enough to take you down and then nothing will stop my master!  Enjoy this small victory, Phantom.  I assure you it won’t last.”  And with that Silk flapped his wings together and seemingly vanished in a puff of scales from what little he could see.

“Vlad?”  Danny sniffed a bit as he glanced down at the ground through his still rather swollen eyes, “You alright down there?  I still can’t see much of anything so talk to me here.”

“Good… Daniel,” Vlad coughed out sounding more hoarse than before, “This way.”

Letting the voice lead him, Danny flew down and squinted a bit trying to make out anything from his still limited eyesight.  The melted snow he had gathered had done a bit to help him, but it wasn’t enough to totally fix things.  At the very least though, it seemed like it wasn’t getting worse.

“This way… These boxes.”

Walking slowly along the snow covered ground Danny headed towards where he heard Vlad.  He was actually very surprised that he had been able to cause such a snow storm for even such a short amount of time as he had.  It being the first time he tried something like that he honestly wasn’t sure what would have happened but he was glad his plan worked even the slightest bit.

“Vlad-o?”  Danny smirked feeling like he was playing that pool game like this.  When he didn’t hear anything though Danny chuckled and glanced around, “Come on, Vlad… I say ‘Vlad-o’ and you say Polo… or you know anything like that.”

“Over…Here…”  Vlad called out and Danny turned towards the sound of his voice again with a pout on his face.

“Oh you’re no fun at all, Vlad.”

“Just… hurry over.  Going to release… these ghosts.”

Danny waved off the comment with annoyance and sniffling as he hurried over to the source of the voice.  When he got close enough to tell that the dark speck on top of a white mound was Vlad he flew over the ground to land right beside him.

“Right so I’m here now, how do we open these things?”

“Fight… drained me,” Vlad admitted, “Need help blasting open.”

“Bash the thing to pieces like I did the one with Kitty, got it.  Step back.”  Hearing a few footsteps in the snow behind him Danny pulled out the flail again and swung it at the dark shape in front of him several times.  After a few hits he could the sounds of the box shattering to pieces and after one more strong swing the voices of several happy ghosts rung out from it.

“Lunch Lady?  Box Lunch?  You guys around there?”  Danny called out being unable to make out any details of the freed ghosts.

“Hey, it’s Phantom!”  An unfamiliar voice spoke out among the masses of excited shouts, “Hey, kid, thanks for letting us out.  Uhh… dunno who you’re lookin’ for but there weren’t no lady in our box.  Thanks though for the save.”

“Anytime…” Danny waved him off and looked around at the other boxes and flung out the flail at each of them to destroy the things.  After the last box was busted open though Danny fell to his knees finally starting to feel the drain from using his wail to such a degree along with bashing these boxes in.  The scales also may have had something to do with his lethargy but it wasn’t something that was going to stop him.

“Lunch Lady?  Box Lunch?  Please tell me one of you are around here.”

“Phantom?”  Danny just about laughed at hearing the old grandmotherly voice of the Lunch Lady reach his ears, “Oh my, you poor dear, what happened to you?”

“I could ask the same about you, ma’am,” Danny sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve, “Boxie came and got me telling me you and your daughter got captured by some weird ghosts and we came to save you.  He wanted to come with us but we ran into some trouble and he had to take some friends of mine back to my parents’ lab.  Are you alright though?  Are you hurt?”

“Oh, dearie, I’m a lot tougher than most people give me credit for, don’t worry about me.  As for Box Lunch she’s fine, after a little fussing I managed to soothe her back to sleep.  What about you though, you look like you’re about to collapse?”

“The ghost behind your capture and… well the rest of these guys,” Danny waved his hand around towards the blurs floating around him, “Had some kind of moth wings that shed scales and caused some bad reactions with me and Vlad.  I can barely see anything and he can barely talk and I think it might also have drained us a bit because I’m feeling really weak right now.”

“Oh you poor thing, don’t worry I’ll help you both home it’s the least I can do.”  Danny looked up at the green face of the Lunch Lady and smiled before he saw her look to the side, “Oh you there, you boys look like a fine pair of strong able bodied ghosts.  Won’t you please help me get this boy and his friend back home?”

“Please, lady!  We are not about to help that Phantom brat just because he saved us.  Guy’s nothin’ but a do-gooder with a lame sense of fashion.” 

Danny growled lowly and glanced over at the source of the laughing voices, “Yeah, I mean why should we even help him?  He protects and cares more about humans than any of us anyway.”

“Well…”  Lunch Lady’s voice was sweet but Danny could still detect a subtle tension in her posture, “BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T I WILL CHOKE YOU BOTH ON THE FURY OF MY GIANT TURKEY LEG!” 

And even with one arm holding an infant she still managed to hold out one hand and conjure the afore mentioned piece of poultry.  It was huge, looked like it weighed more than a grown man and if her tone was anything to go by she was more than prepared to use it to beat the ever non-living daylights out of the ghosts she had asked to help them.

“F-f-f-f-fine!  Ok we give lady!  We’ll help!  Just don’t hurt us!”  The first ghost’s voice stuttered and that was enough for her to let her meat club dematerialize back into ectoplasm.

“Oh such good boys I knew I could count on you.”  And the strange thing about it was that Danny couldn’t detect the barest hint of her not being sincere about that.  It was weird to say the least.

“Now, one of you grab Phantom here and if the other could please grab hold of Plasmius I’ll lead the way back to the portal where they’ll be safe.  Then I’ll whip you up a nice soup as thanks and you can be on your ways again.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever lady…”  The second ghost muttered as Danny saw him approaching.

“What was that?”  The sharp tone in the Lunch Lady’s voice spoke of approaching pain and Danny really wished he could see again to know what expression this new ghost wore on his face from that.

“I-I said that sounds awesome, ma’am!  Please, lead the way.”

“Good boy,” She huffed sounding amused as she floated over to Vlad with the other blurry ghost right behind her.  Honestly Danny was impressed with her.  She certainly was a lot tougher than most people gave her credit for, and being able to cow two reluctant ghosts into helping her carry him and Vlad back to the portal was nothing short of amazing.

“Not a word about this to anyone, kid, or else.”  Danny turned his head and saw a blue skinned ghost reaching down to haul him up. 

“Oh please…”  He couldn’t see this guy but Danny knew he could take him without a problem.  He could stand his ground against Vlad during spars and his mom when they trained together sometimes.  A low level ghost like this wouldn’t be hard for him to take even now half blind and suffering from poisoned moth scales, “Drop the tough guy act, if it wasn’t for me you’d still be in those boxes being lugged back to who-knows-where.  Helping me out a bit isn’t going to hurt you…”

The ghost just grumbled as Danny steadied his arm over his shoulders before they took off.  With the Lunch Lady leading the way there was no chance of them getting lost and soon they’d all be back in the human world and with information that could only help. 

A new enemy who served some mysterious ‘master’ wasn’t much to go on, but it was a start.  Add to that the fact they were kidnapping low leveled ghosts and more things just started to add up.  While this might have been a good thing though, Danny couldn’t help a shiver that went down his spine at the thought of whatever picture these pieces of this mystery seemed to be forming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Danny we love the fact you're all Politically Correct and all... but maybe you should be concentrating on the bigger picture here... Just sayin'.  
> Please also note I'm not trying to be hurtful or anything with this stuff I'm just trying to be funny.


	12. Stock of the Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny has had a rough day... Dash is having an odd evening.  
> After school Dash goes to see Danny and drop off his stuff. He also gets subjected to a lot of things he didn't think he'd ever have to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a lot of funny moments in this I think and I want to hear people's thoughts on them. Lots of stuff is about to happen though so enjoy this fluff while it lasts.

Hope was a funny thing.  It tended to be like a strange tingling sensation that crawled from the chest and moved out to the rest of the body.  If left alone it tended to simmer and die off, but if it was thought about too much it grew wild like a weed choking off all reasonable thought.  As Dash pulled into view of the Fenton’s driveway he tried to keep himself calm and all hope of what he had heard earlier that day in check until he could get inside.

After getting that text from Danny the rest of the day had just seemed to drag by at a snail’s pace.  So many things ran through Dash’s imagination once he had gotten that text and he honestly wished he could have skipped practice to get there sooner.  He could barely focus while they ran plays and several times Kwan kept giving him concerned looks through it all. 

The moment they were dismissed he ran like his life was on the line to the locker room and changed.  He didn’t bother showering or getting clean because he did not want to waste another moment in getting to the Fenton household.  Once he was parked he wasted no time in killing the ignition and running into the house, thankful that he was on such good terms with the Fentons now that he could forgo certain manners like knocking.

Unfortunately though the moment he opened the door he was greeted with a sight that even in Amity he was not used to seeing.  Several ghosts were all sitting or floating around the living room area and he could even see a few in the kitchen.  A few of them he recognized from fights Danny had had over the years, but there were others that he didn’t; either way the moment they noticed him they all got tense and stared at him.

“You always just run into people’s houses, kid?”  A muscular looking blue ghost dressed like a lumber jack said floating by the stairway.

“Uhh… is Danny here?”  Dash suddenly felt like an idiot and the looks on this ghost’s face said that he wasn’t the only one to think that.

“Oh?  You one of his friends?”  Looking to the side Dash saw a young female ghost dressed in a red jacket with green hair.  She was cradling a baby ghost and that was certainly something new to Dash that he would have to ask about later.

“Uh… yeah, I’m uh…”  Dash suddenly was unsure about what to say to these ghosts.  He didn’t know how they would react to him being gay and he didn’t want to cause trouble if he could help it, “Uh, my name’s Dash, and yeah I’m a friend of his.  I came by to drop off his stuff and see what happened today.  Where is he?”

“He’s downstairs with Masters and Johnny getting treated.  The Fentons told those of us that didn’t require medical attention to stay up here but I guess you can go see him they should be about done by now.”

The words ‘medical attention’ stood out like a beacon in Dash’s mind and he could feel himself freeze up in fear over that.  ‘Getting treated’ had so many meanings that his imagination went everywhere with it.  He could be getting treated for something as simple as a few bumps and bruises to worse things that required stitches or even the removal of a body part.  No matter what the issue was though it wasn’t good and Dash barely managed a stutter of thanks to the woman before he headed towards the lab as fast as he could.

On his way to the lab he passed other ghosts.  A blue ghost in overalls was hovering around the kitchen bringing things to a green woman who was dressed like a lunch lady while another sat at the table.  If this hadn’t been unusual then seeing the plant ghost Undergrowth inside the house certainly was.  He was standing by the lady ghost who was cutting up some kind of vegetable when she reached over and plucked something from his shoulder.

“Thank you, Undergrowth.  You’re such a dear for helping me cook dinner for all these rascals.”

“It is of no trouble to me, ma’am, I owe the boy greatly and helping in such a way is the very least I can do.  Besides we all need to regain our strength and be prepared for what’s to come and if I can help in that then I will.”

“Oh such a dear, I’ll be sure to get all the scraps together to make some compost for you later.  But first may I trouble you for some more basil?”

“Of course,” He held up his arm and grew something from it and only then noticed Dash standing in the kitchen staring, “Oh, the ghost boy’s mate.  He is downstairs if you are looking for him.”

Dash cringed and felt his face heat up at being called Danny’s ‘mate’ but didn’t say anything to that.  Instead he turned to the other ghosts who were now staring at him.  The woman was looking at him curiously as was the one that was wearing overalls, but the last guy, who was wearing a suit that looked out of style, just looked him over and then rolled his eyes before sitting at the table looking bored.

“Uhh… Thanks, I’ll just uh… go that way.”  Dash said feeling unsure about everything he was seeing and experiencing right now.

“Oh before you go, dearie,” the lady spoke up again and Dash really felt like he was talking to someone’s grandmother with the way she talked, “I’m making a nice vegetable soup for dinner and was going to follow that with a nice chicken parmesan with brown rice and I was thinking a fruit sorbet for dessert, will you be joining us and if so is there any preference you’d like in anything?”

 “Uhh… I guess I like green beans and spinach and I like blueberries but I’m not sure what a ‘sorbet’ is…”

“It’s like an ice cream, dear, but don’t worry I’ll be sure to fix up some of that for you, now you go along and see that poor boy I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear you.”  She waved a spoon at him shooing him away and Dash honestly did not need to be told twice.  He headed down the stairs and was all too happy to reach the bottom and saw that the lab was, of course, inhabited with a couple ghosts.  Surprisingly one of them being Undergrowth which made Dash look back up the stairs and wonder if he was still up there, while the other one was a blond guy who had gauze wrapped around his torso.

“And of course after that I had to pretty much bash open the boxes to free the ghosts and then the Lunch Lady got those two guys to fly us back here and thus ends the tale.”  Danny’s voice sounded exactly the same as it always did and that alone was enough to ease some of the tension Dash had been feeling all afternoon.  The moment he finished looking him over though it felt like not only was all the tension back, but that it had brought with it a literal metric ton of anxiety that it felt the need to drop right on his shoulders.

Danny looked fine overall.  Nothing looked broken and as he sat there on a table without his shirt Dash saw there were no bandages on his torso anywhere.  He looked him over from his shoulders all the way down to his navel for any signs of injury but all Dash saw were some dark hairs that got lighter as they went further down into his pants.

‘Snap out of it, Baxter!’  Dash mentally slapped himself, ‘Now’s not the time to ogle your boyfriend!  Focus!’

The sight of his naked flesh wasn’t what had caused Dash to be filled with dread, no it was when he finally caught sight of his face that he felt his heart nearly stop.  Dash didn’t know much about eye injuries and he knew even less about how someone might go about treating one.  That however did not mean that seeing bandages covering both of his eyes meant anything but not good.

“What happened?!”  Dash jerked back in surprise at yelling that a bit louder than he had intended and surprising everyone else in the room apparently, except for Undergrowth which was, again, odd to him.

“Dash?  That you?”  Danny laughed happily and jumped off the table and started to walk while putting on his shirt, “Man, have I got a story to tell you.  You’re not even going to believe what happened but it was pretty funny and I think you’ll get a kick out of a bit of it.”

“That’s great, Danny, but two things: 1. I’m over here,” Dash called out to him as the guy was walking to and talking at the wall, “And 2. Are you even alright?!  What happened?!”

“Huh?”  Danny turned his head towards Dash again and started walking to him but Dash finally remembered that he had feet and took several quick steps towards him and put his hands on his shoulders and turned him towards him, “Oh!  There you are.  Heh, and yeah I’m fine it’s just a small reaction to a ghost’s attack but I should be fine by tomorrow.  At least that’s what Undergrowth and my parents are saying.  The big guy there,” Danny jerked his thumb back to a computer, “grew some plants and herbs that my parents helped make into an ointment to spread on my eyes to reduce the inflammation or something and after a few tests they said I should be fine by tomorrow.  I just need to wear these bandages until the morning when they’ll check to make sure I’m fine.”

Dash had a feeling that Danny had meant to point at Undergrowth but that was not something to focus on right now, “But you’ll be fine?  You’ll be able to see again?”

When Danny just kept smiling and nodded Dash felt relief flood through him like a tidal wave and he just wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him tightly, “Thank, God.  I was honestly so worried about you all since lunch and seeing you like this just about made my heart stop.”

“Heh, I’ve had worse,” Danny said softly but returned the hug and for a moment Dash felt like everything was going to be fine until Danny opened his mouth again, “By the way are you wearing some kind of cologne or something?  You smell real good.”

That caused the jock to jerk in surprise and cringe.  He had almost forgotten that he hadn’t showered after practice and he was still slightly sweaty.

“Uh… no I just… I was so worried that I skipped my shower after practice and came right here after changing…”

“Oh… Oh!”  Danny seemed to realize what he had just said and blushed at it while in the background the loud laughter of Mr. Fenton broke the awkward tension.

“Oh that takes me back to my senior year of football… Ah, Trevor and me sure had a lot of fun working up a sweat and then going at it.  Worked out a lot of tension.”  And again Dash felt like dying a bit inside at once again hearing about what the Fenton Sr. had gotten into when he was their age.

“Uhg… Old people,” the male ghost that had his body wrapped in gauze slowly stood up and cringed as he did so, “So this is the guy you’ve been seeing kid?”

“Yeah…”  Danny pushed back from Dash a bit and turned to look at some vials crossing his arms and looking defensive, “What of it Johnny?”

“Nothin’,” He shrugged and gave a look at Dash like he was sizing him up and Dash felt himself puff out his chest like there was about to be a fight between them.

“Alright, Dash easy.”  Danny placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a pat, “Johnny’s a bit of a jerk but he’s in no condition to fight and he wouldn’t start trouble with me anymore anyway if he could.”

“Ehh you’ve earned my respect, squirt, and I like ya so I’ve got no reason to fight ya anymore.”  The guy shrugged again and started to make his way up the stairs with Mrs. Fenton telling him to not use his powers and to take it easy.  He just waved off her concern though right as he disappeared from sight.

“So… can we please inform the human here what exactly happened?”  Dash waved his hand feeling overwhelmed again.

“Ehh, it’s nothing bad I assure you,” Danny smacked his chest with the back of his hand, “And I told you I’m fine!  I might not be able to see at the moment but all my other sense are like super enhanced now!  I’m like Dare Devil.  That’s probably why I could smell you so well, normally you don’t smell that strong.”

Dash cringed yet again but thought better of mentioning that he had also forgotten to use his deodorant that morning.  Instead he turned to the sound of Mrs. Fenton laughing slightly.

“You’re forgetting though that Dare Devil was actually blind and not just vision impaired like you are.  He also had a sixth sense that he used to detect his surroundings; something that you do not have, and you really should be taking it easy and not getting yourself all worked up like this.  I also wish you’d at least use a walking stick or something to help you get around but you’ve already said you won’t.”

“Ah, mom, come on I’m fine I don’t need any assistance,” Danny said speaking to that Ghost Portal Dash had seen a few times and taking pity on his boyfriend he put his hands on his shoulders and turned him to face his mother, “I can navigate the house easily.  And even without my eyes I still know you’re rolling yours, Vlad.”

“Honestly, Danny, it’s not a big deal to need help with this.  You’ve been through a lot and all we’re asking is that you take it easy.  And speaking of you’re going to need to call your coach as soon as you head upstairs to tell him you won’t be able to make it to practice tomorrow.”

“What?!  Why?!”  Danny asked incredulously and Dash couldn’t believe he even had to ask.

“Danny you are injured.  Your eyesight has been incredibly compromised and getting into a highly chlorinated public pool can do you no good.  Honestly, it’s just one practice; you don’t have to worry about it.  Even the best athletes get sick and have to skip a day of training.”

“I know that it’s just… UHG!”   Danny groaned loudly, “I like swimming and I hate having to skip any practices.  I want to be good and do well with it!”

“And missing one practice won’t make you bad at it.”  Mrs. Fenton smiled at him though he couldn’t see it, “But how’s this… if it will help and if he can get his parents’ permission Dash can stay the night tonight and in the morning if your eyes aren’t swollen anymore we’ll let you drive your bike to school.  Alright?”

And if ever Dash had heard a bribe that was it.  Danny thought about it for a moment more before glancing back at where he felt hands and nodded his head in agreement.

“Good,” Mrs. Fenton smiled and clapped her hands together, “Now, Dash why don’t you go shower and get ready for dinner.  The Lunch Lady will likely have the food ready for us by the time you’re done.  Danny you go and rest on the couch and we’ll be up in a little bit.  We just need to talk to Vlad a bit… or well he’ll type things up and we’ll figure out things from what he says from there.  Now run along you two.” 

“Yeah, yeah, fine…” Danny shook his head and Dash could just imagine him rolling his eyes as he tried to walk towards the steps only for Dash to lead the way.

Once he had set Danny on the couch he sat next to him and let him tell him about the adventure he had had.  It sounded scary and it sent shivers down his spine to think about but Danny just talked about it like he was commenting on the weather.

“And from there Lunch Lady got these two ghosts I’ve never heard before and got us home.  She said she wanted to make dinner for all of us and so now we’re hosting a few injured and drained ghosts as well as Vlad.”

“Speaking of injured ghosts, when I walked downstairs Undergrowth was in the kitchen so how was he able to get down there so fast and back up too?”  He looked back at the kitchen and caught sight of the grassy ghost still standing by and supplying ingredients for their meal.

“Oh he can make duplicates of himself.  Handy power he has and Vlad has a similar ability, though I think Undergrowth just is able to grow a part of himself in other places.  Kind of like how bamboo and other plants will grow out from the mother plant to spread or something, I dunno.”

“Well I don’t understand it but that’s handy I guess; being in two places at once.”  Dash shrugged.

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to learn how to do it myself for a while now, but so far I haven’t had much luck.  Can barely split myself, but I’m still plenty strong, so even if I don’t learn how to do it it’s no big deal.”  Danny shrugged and leaned against Dash yawning slightly. 

“I should uh… probably go shower…”  Dash mumbled feeling a bit insecure about how he smelled now.

“Well alright, I don’t mind how you smell though if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Really?”  That was certainly a new one for Dash.

“Ehh, you smell hot; like a man, strong, and like I said it’s not bad to me, but to each their own right?”  He shrugged and leaned against the arm of the couch so that Dash could stand.

“Y-yeah, I guess…”  He blushed as he was met with the ghosts in the room glancing at him smugly from the corner of their eyes, “I’m gonna… shower, I still got stuff here?”

“Bottom drawer, you can borrow anything of mine that you need though.”

“Thanks…”  And with that Dash headed upstairs only to catch that one woman who had been playing with that kid talking to Danny.

“So… he’s kinda cute.”

“Yes, yes he is.  He is also mine, Kitty, so hands off.”  There was laughter that followed that but Dash didn’t stick around to hear anything else.  He wanted a shower, he wanted to distress some, and he wanted to eat at some point and none of that was going to get done listening to his boyfriend talk to some ghost woman.

As soon as he reached the bathroom he peeled his shirt off and sighed.  He felt weary from worry and all the worst case scenarios he had thought up all day.  Putting his hands on the sink he leaned his forehead against the mirror and closed his eyes to try to calm down a bit.  He felt tense still and troubled but he just had to tell himself that Danny was fine again.

‘He’s fine, he’s strong, he’s safe now and his parents said he’ll be fine tomorrow.  Nothing is wrong so why do you feel like this?’  Dash thought and opened his eyes to stare at his own reflection before him, ‘It’s because you love him and you haven’t had the balls to say it to him yet, Baxter, that’s why.  You’re scared of losing him and you want to help him; be there for him.  You’ve got to train harder if you’re ever going to be any help to him.  Now stop moping, get a hot shower, get clean, and plan out what to do about that after dinner.’

Nodding his head against the mirror to affirm his resolve Dash took a deep breath and then pushed himself back.  The moment he did though he yelped and jumped in surprise at seeing that ghost from the lab leaning against the door in the mirror.  Turning around to make sure he wasn’t seeing things he saw that the guy really was there and was looking majorly unimpressed.

The guy wasn’t too physically intimidating.  Even without the gauze wrapped around him to point out his weakened state he was fairly thin and scrawny.  He had shaggy dirty blond hair and was just bit taller than him.  Dash also thought he looked maybe to be in his 20s but it was hard to tell.  What was even harder to tell though was what he was doing in the bathroom with him.

“Uhh… can I help you, Mr…?” 

“Name’s Johnny, kid,” he frowned up at Dash and standing there he felt more naked than he would have if he hadn’t had his pants still on.

“Right… uh… Johnny…”  Dash stammered feeling majorly uncomfortable with how this guy was staring at him like he was some disgusting piece of mold, “Is there something you need?  Do you need to use the bathroom real quick?”

“You’re not too bright are you?”  He scoffed and then pushed himself off the door and walked over to him, “I just thought I should tell you a few things while I had you alone.”

“What kind of ‘things’?”  Dash scoffed not liking this guy so much now at being insulted like that.

“Oh you know…” he reached out and felt the fabric of the shower curtain and continued to look around seemingly ignoring Dash for the most part, “Facts mainly.  Things someone like you should know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?  And what do you mean by ‘someone like me’?”  Dash huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.  He wouldn’t admit to it latter either but he tried to flex a bit and look like he wasn’t going to let himself be intimidated so easily.

“Chill, I don’t mean like that.  Could care less if you’re into dudes.  What I mean is: people who are dating people that I respect and generally like.”  He turned around and sat on the toilet seat and looked back at Dash like he was studying him.

“Oh… You’re a friend of Danny’s then?”

“Heh, we are now.  We’ve grown close over the last few years.  Kinda consider the squirt to be like a kid brother to me.”  He smiled and Dash relaxed a bit at that, feeling the hostility of the situation leave for the moment.

“That being said,” the fond look on his face suddenly turned into something much colder and darker as he looked up at him, “You know how many ways there are for people to die?  Take this bathroom for instance: you could be showering when you suddenly slip, fall and break your neck, hit your head and bleed out, or drown in a puddle.”  Dash gaped at how flippantly he had said that and wondered where the hell it had come from, “Or you fall out of the shower, bang your head against the mirror, crack it and all the glass could fall on you, cutting you to pieces.  There’s also the risk of electric shock, germs of all sorts, and various chemicals that can have any number of nasty side effects on you.  Of course that’s just in here; outside on the streets anything could happen.  You could fall into traffic, be hit on the head by a random brick that fell from a building, or a gas explosion could send shrapnel flying out that would cut off your head.  There’s just so many ways for humans to die and I should know because I’ve met a lot of ghosts who had the bad luck of dying in a lot of gruesome ways…”

“W-w-what’s your point?”  Dash gulped, now feeling like he was eight and facing down a boogey man in his closet.

“The point is, kid, that like I said: I consider Danny to be like a kid brother to me… You… I don’t know you,” he stood up and poked a finger at his chest and Dash felt himself shiver at how cold it felt, “You might be a nice guy, you could be a decent guy.  If that’s the case, then great.”  He shrugged and then pushed Dash against the door hard enough to have the breath knocked form him, “BUT… If it turns out you ain’t a nice guy and you do something really stupid… like break his heart… Well… There’s all manner of bad luck that can befall a guy like you… So keep that in mind.”

It suddenly occurred to Dash that he was getting ‘the shovel talk’ from a ghost.  This also was somehow more terrifying than anything Danny’s parents could have given him.  That aside he felt himself straighten and stare Johnny right in the eye to try to convey his conviction.

“I… care about Danny a great deal.  I don’t want to hurt him and I promise you that I’ll do whatever I can to not break his heart even if we have to break up.”

“Hmm…”  Johnny tilted his head and pursed his lips to the side for a moment before he nodded, “That’s cool, dude, glad to hear it.  Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were in for with him is all.  Lots of people care about him and no one wants to see him get his heart broke.”

“I don’t intend to ever do that, but can I…”  Dash jerked his head to the door and Johnny looked at it and back at Dash before he looked down a bit and jerked in surprise.

“Oh, right, sorry.  Yeah I’ll let you alone now.  Hurry up though; Lunch Lady is a bit of a hard ball when it comes to meals.  When she says ‘dinner’s ready’ that means ‘get your butts in here before I beat you over the head with a kielbasa’.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dash sighed as Johnny left the bathroom and finally took off the rest of his clothes so that he could shower.

Once he turned the water on Dash suddenly realized that in his rush to get here he had left his deodorant in his locker at the gym.  For a moment he looked over to where Danny had a stick sitting out and thought about using it but felt odd about such an idea.

‘Can two guys who are dating share deodorant?  I mean it’s not like wearing his underwear or something but…,’  Lifting his arms Dash took a quick whiff and just decided to forget it, ‘Danny doesn’t mind and after a quick shower I’ll smell fine for the night.  I’ll just go grab it from the locker room before class starts and I’ll be good for the day.’

With that minor dilemma settled Dash got into the warm water and quickly let it wash away his sweat and worries.  It was comforting somehow being in that shower, more so than his shower at home for some reason.  Maybe it was because it was in Danny’s house and he felt like he could just be himself here or maybe it was just because of the shower jets.  He didn’t really know why, all he really knew was that it was.

After the shower, and feeling much better, Dash walked into Danny’s room and got out some of his stuff from the drawer that Danny had lent him.  It was another weird sign about how close they had gotten in the last few months and just the simple act of pulling out his boxers from that drawer made him smile.  The fact that they shared space and were together meant so much to him.  This relationship they had going, Dash knew that it was quickly getting more serious than most relationships teens their age got into, but he didn’t really care.  He loved Danny, he wanted to be with Danny, and maybe even have sex together one day when they were ready for it.  There was no other way to put it, and all it took was for him to pull his underwear out from the Danny’s dresser drawer to realize it.

‘I think I’ll leave that part out of ‘how I figured out I was in love with Danny for sure’ if anyone ever asks me.’  Dash thought humorously as he slid his garments up his legs before pulling on some shorts.

Once he pulled on one of Danny’s shirts from his closet Dash quickly brushed his hair and headed downstairs where he heard Danny talking to someone.

“Yeah, I’m sorry to miss practice too, but my parents think it’s best if I skip it this once,” there was silence and Dash walked over to where Danny was sitting on the couch talking on his phone, “Yeah, I should be fine just a bit of ectoplasm in my eye, shouldn’t be a problem.  I’ll see ya the next morning though, coach, bright and early.  Goodnight.”

“Called your coach to let him know you wouldn’t make practice?”  Dash sat next to him and pulled him into his side.

“Yeah, told him I got caught in that ghost attack and got some ectoplasm in my eye and my parents said I needed to skip practice to not aggravate anything.  Thankfully he believed me and said my health was more important so at least there’s that.”

  “That’s good,” Dash sighed contentedly with the warmth of Danny’s body soaking into his, “Hey, I almost forgot.  Kwan told me something interesting after you left today.”

“Yeah?  What did he tell you?”

“Well you know how the dance is going to be in the lunchroom?”  When Danny nodded Dash gulped a bit feeling nervous, “Well just down the hall is the teacher’s lounge.  It’s close enough to hear the music and everything but no one will be in there so… you know.  We could go there and dance a bit if we wanted to.”

“Why Dash Baxter…”  Danny grinned up at him, “Are you trying to ask me to be your date to homecoming?”

“Well I wouldn’t be trying if you just said ‘yes’.”  Dash chuckled.

“Well when you put it like that…”  Danny laughed and rubbed his head against Dash’s shoulder, “I’d love to.  That is of course assuming nothing else happens this week that prevents me from being able to go or do anything.”

“Hmm… Speaking of happenings this week… I was wondering if… well if we could train some more.  I’d like to get some combat practice in soon, learn some more about the weapons you guys have, and just… be ready in case anything actually happens.”

“You’re worried about what’s coming aren’t you?”

“I couldn’t care less about what’s coming; I just care about you, Danny… I want to be able to help you with whatever is coming and not just sit back and worry about you wondering if you’re going to come back in one piece.”  And that was it really.  There were no ulterior motives to it.  All he wanted to do was watch Danny’s back and fight with him.  He didn’t even care if he couldn’t fight beside him; just so long as he could help was all that mattered to him.

“Dash…”  Danny turned his head to face him, “If you want to train then we can, and don’t worry.  Between my parents, me, and some of the ghosts, we’ll get you up to fighting shape in no time.

At the idea of the other ghosts helping train him Dash felt himself tense.  He still remembered his training session with that ghost Skulker and then there was what Johnny had just said.  Both instances caused him to stiffen up at their memory and he wondered if anyone would be horribly offended if he decided to not take their help in his training just yet.

“Don’t worry,” Danny smirked, “Skulker is still on thin ice with everyone here.  He might be a good teacher for you one day but not until you get some experience under your belt.”

“Uhh… that wasn’t exactly the only thing I was thinking about… heh,” at Danny’s confused look, Dash explained things to him about Johnny and watched as dark eyebrows rose up.  It was humorous to see the look on his face when he couldn’t see his eyes, but somehow Dash could just imagine the eyes behind those stark white bandages.

“I can’t believe he gave you the shovel talk…”  Danny groaned and rubbed at his face.

“It was utterly terrifying and I don’t even want to think about it.”  Dash sighed and pulled Danny closer to him.

“Still though, I’ll have to talk to him later, but for now I think dinner is about done.  Did you call your parents to tell them you’d be eating dinner and staying the night?”

“Not yet, but I’ll do that now,” leaning his head down, Dash placed a kiss on Danny’s forehead before he stood up to go make a call to his parents.  It didn’t take much convincing on his part to get his mom on board.  He just said that they had a project to do that would take a while and that the Fentons had offered to just let him stay the night and she said yes. 

Dash felt a bit bad about lying to his mother, but this was important and he was still worried about Danny.  He knew, intellectually, that his boyfriend would be fine, but he still felt like he should be nearby to at least support him.  If nothing else just being able to be near made him feel better and he hoped that Danny would feel the same way.

With that handled Dash went back to the family room, laid down right next to Danny again, and pulled him into his chest.  The smaller teen turned around and rubbed his face into the broad chest and sighed happily and that alone made Dash smile.  He stroked Danny’s hair back and played with the fuzz that grew on his neck enjoying the silence for the moment until he felt Danny rubbing his nose into his chest and taking deep breaths.

“I think not being able to see has improved my sense of smell or something.”

“I thought that was like a myth or something?”  Dash laughed and let his hands move down to Danny’s back.

“Maybe, or I might just be paying more attention to smells while I can’t see now,” he took a deep whiff and smiled up at him, “You smell good though.  Natural and clean.”

“Oh that’s good because I forgot my deodorant in the locker room and didn’t want to use yours.”

“Huh?  You don’t like my brand or something?”  Danny tilted his head curiously.

“Uh… well no but…” Dash scratched at the top of his head and thought about it for a moment, “Is that ok?  I mean can boyfriends share deodorant or would it be like sharing underwear or something?”

“Huh?”  Danny laughed suddenly and covered his mouth while he apparently tried to control a sudden fit of laughter.

“What?”  Dash huffed suddenly feeling slightly offended, “I’m new to this, Danny-boy. So cut me some slack here, alright?”  He flicked the teen’s nose and after another minute Danny managed to calm himself down.

“Sorry, sorry, really…” He cleared his throat and let out one last chuckle, “It’s just… I don’t think there’s like any rule or etiquette that says you can’t.  I don’t think there’s anything unsanitary about it at least.  Wearing my underwear now… well so long as it’s clean I guess it wouldn’t matter but ask first if you ever do, alright?”

“Sure, Danny, whatever you say,” Dash couldn’t help but chuckle with Danny prattling away on top of him.

Soon enough they were called into the kitchen for dinner, and Dash again had to wonder how weird his life was becoming.  First befriending a guy he used to bully, next finding out said guy was a superhero he looked up to, then dating him, and if all that hadn’t been mind-blowing enough now he was eating dinner with seven (eight if he counted Danny and Vlad both as a half) ghosts.  In all honesty Dash thought that things couldn’t likely get stranger, but he knew that kind of thinking just invited things to happen.

Dinner was actually a pretty tame affair considering the guests though.  The Lunch Lady served up the meal to everyone with help from her husband and soon everyone was digging in.  Dash had to help Danny maneuver the table a bit, but otherwise things were good.  The soup was rich and the chicken was tender and everything tasted divine.  It wasn’t very often that Dash was able to eat something that tasted this good because his parents were often too busy to cook and he wasn’t that good a chef himself so he savored every bite he took in between helping Danny eat his own.

“This stuff is great, Mrs. L.  You really should consider opening up a place in the Ghost Zone for all of us inept cooks so we can get a bite.”  Johnny spoke with a mouthful of chicken still bulging in his cheeks.  At some point he had finally managed to pull on a loose shirt and it looked like the guy had regained some color to his skin.  He was still wincing every time he moved too fast, though, and that girlfriend of his kept glancing at him with wide eyed concern gleaming in her eyes when he did.

“Oh thank you, Johnny, but I’m happy enough being a mother and helping raise our daughter.  Maybe one day when I have more time and little Box Lunch doesn’t need as much attention, but for now I don’t think I’d be able to do it.”

Dash actually smiled at how this sort of thing had become normal for him.  He was dating a guy with ghostly powers and allies after all, so these things were bound to happen.  Hanging out and conversing with ghosts like he would anyone else was becoming typical for him.  It occurred to him that from an outsider’s perspective that this might be weird, but to him the only oddity here was that he had to keep helping Danny with his food.

He wasn’t completely helpless, as he liked to complain, but Dash just shushed him and helped him eat.  Cutting up some chicken at one point, helping Danny get his fork into the meat; it wasn’t really all that bad or difficult but Dash was still more than happy to help.  Seeing the blush on Danny’s cheeks when he was fed was also a nice little bonus to see, but Dash kept that to himself.

Later that night after dinner had been dealt with, dessert had been enjoyed, and two of the ghosts had gone back into the Ghost Zone everyone started to settle in for the night.  Dash brushed his teeth and once he was in Danny’s room he pulled off his clothes and neatly folded them on the dresser to wear tomorrow.  Once he was ready he sat on the bed in his boxers waiting for Danny to finish up in the bathroom.  He didn’t want to lay down just yet in case Danny needed help for anything, but it turned out he didn’t have to worry as the other teen walked cautiously into his room.

It was a bit scary in Dash’s mind to see Danny like this.  Blind, almost defenseless, and, no matter what he said, unable to pinpoint anything by sound alone.  If something bad were to happen someone would have to be right next to him in order to help him fight.

“Marco…”  Danny called out with his arms waving around in front of him feeling for his bed.

“Polo,” Dash huffed a laugh and waited as he made his way towards him.  When he was finally close enough Dash grabbed his arm and pulled him into a rough embrace before wrestling down him into bed.  He tickled Danny’s ribs a bit and they both laughed before Dash just leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his lips. 

From there they both stilled, trying to calm down.  Dash brushed Danny’s hair back from his forehead and although he knew Danny couldn’t see it he smiled and thought about how lucky he was.

“So were you really serious about going to homecoming together, Dash?”

“Of course!” Dash laughed thinking that Danny should have known better, “After the game we socialize a bit, wait for the homecoming king and queen to be announced, and then we go down to the teacher’s lounge and hang out for a bit and do some slow dancing in between going back out to the gym for snacks and whatever non-spiked punch they’ve got.”

“Sounds fun,” Danny sighed happily and Dash pulled back to go turn off the lights.  When he got back Danny had shed his shirt and was getting his blankets straightened up around him.

In no time Dash was right next to him in his bed and pulling him close to cuddle.  Danny had told him once that he really was just a big softie at heart; loving romance movies and cuddling under blankets, and Dash couldn’t argue.  He especially like to wrap his arms around Danny at night and drift off trying to imagine that he was good enough to keep his boyfriend safe. 

Dash knew he wasn’t strong, he knew he wasn’t a good shot (yet), but if it meant keeping Danny safe he’d get stronger, he’d get better.  There was little else that was more important to him these days than Danny’s safety, and maybe that wasn’t a good way of thinking but it suited him fine.

‘I’ll train harder, I’ll get better,’ he looked down at Danny’s dark hair and smiled, ‘I’m not going to sit behind you while you risk your life for all of ours.  I’m going to help you however I can.  Protecting your back, your sides, or whatever I don’t care just so long as I can help.’

And with those thoughts taking root inside him Dash closed his eyes and placed a kiss atop Danny’s head before he drifted off to sleep himself, ready for whatever the week might throw at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johnny giving a shovel talk, Dash stressing out at his 'blinded' boyfriend and meeting several ghosts, plans are made and things are about to get wild.  
> And no Danny you did not gain any type of enhanced senses from losing your sight for the night, stop being ridiculous.


	13. Motions Between Two Bodies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny hopes to have a nice relaxing night out with his boyfriend dancing after the homecoming game. Sure would be a shame if something worse than normal were to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to see some more action here, lots is going to be revealed in these next couple chapters so look forward to a lot of comedy and a lot of other stuff.

With a grunt Dash landed flat on his back and a huff of air escaped his lungs.  Looking down at his sparring partner Danny couldn’t hide the pleased look on his face.  Dash was strong, there was no doubt in his mind, but he still wasn’t as great a fighter as Danny had become over the years.

“So that makes it… what?  Twelve wins for me and one for you?”  Danny chuckled and at the death glare his boyfriend gave him held out his hand to help him up though his smile did not diminish in the least.

“I won two…”  Dash huffed out as Danny helped him up and the pout on his face was so adorable that he didn’t think he could tell him that he let him win one of those.

“That you did, Dash, that you did,” Danny smiled and stepped back away from him on the mat and picked up the staff he was using to fight with and got back into position.

After the incident that had temporarily blinded him, Dash had wanted to pick up on his training.  That meant that as soon as he was done with football practice he was right back at Fenton Works ready to do whatever it took to get good enough to fight off any ghosts that came to attack.  From target practice to working with whatever weapon they could find him, Dash worked with each thing without complaint and pushed himself as hard as he could striving to get as good as he could as fast as he could.

It was admirable, Danny thought, but also a bit concerning in a way.  Dash was throwing himself into this training and while he was showing results he was also looking a bit worn down. 

‘He’s been here every day after practice to train here for three hours, not to mention the homework he likely has to do.  It’s a wonder he hasn’t just collapsed yet from all this.’  Danny sighed and watched Dash as he stood ready to spar again, dripping in sweat.

“What say we call it a day and get something for dinner?  We can talk about the dance some while we’re at it.”

“I can still keep going!”  Dash huffed and took a swing at him again, “C’mon, I’m starting to get the hang of this I think.”

“You are…”  Danny blocked the blow easily before ducking down and swinging his own staff around to knock Dash back onto the matts, “But you’ve been working for hours and you need a break.  Not to mention you have a game tomorrow, homework to do, and projects that need to be worked on too.  So, break time.”

Dash grumbled as he got up to put his staff away and when he turned around Danny threw a towel that hit him in the face.  Ignoring his boyfriend’s glare Danny just smiled and motioned to follow him up the stairs.

“C’mon… I’ll make a meatloaf while you work on your homework and then we can both work together on the classes we have together.  Deal?”

“I guess…”  Dash muttered, “I still say we could have kept going, though.”

“Dash…”  Danny sighed as he walked up the stairs, “I know you want to keep practicing and training and getting better at all this ghost hunting stuff, but you can’t keep pushing yourself this hard.  You’re gonna burn out.  Not to mention you’ve got school and football and everything else to do and you can’t expect to go all out like this for long and there not to be consequences.”

“I just want to be able to help you.” 

And that was something Danny knew was pushing Dash more than anything.  His fight against Silk had left him temporarily almost blind and it had been close enough of a fight that even Vlad felt like picking up on his own training.  That being said though, Danny had years of experience fighting ghosts and Dash was just now really getting into it, and he wasn’t going to be able to help out much until he had some experience of his own.

“I know you do, Dash, and you will… you just have to take it one step at a time and not push yourself so much.  It’s going to take time and practice and you can’t rush either of those.”

“Yeah, I guess…”  Dash grumbled and Danny knew he still wasn’t too happy but as they reached the top of the stairs he just turned around and pulled him into a hug and gave him a soft kiss.

“One day at a time.  It’s not like there’s any pressing matters that I’ll need as much help as possible just yet, and after my meet on Saturday you can come on over and practice some more if you really want. Though tomorrow you’re gonna be busy with football, the game, and then we got the dance.”

“Yep,” Dash grinned and pressed his forehead against Danny’s, “You ready for everything?”

“Of course,” Danny chuckled and pulled away gently before heading to the fridge and pulling things out for dinner, “Got my suite all clean and ready so the only thing left to do is meet my date at the dance and enjoy the evening.  Should be a good time to be had by all.”

“I figure we hang around, mingle for awhile, I have to do that homecoming court deal, and then after that we can cut out and do our own private dance thing.  Maybe go out and grab some more refreshments at times and hang out with some of our teammates and assorted friends for a bit and eventually call it a night.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Danny smirked and let the conversation die as he started to make dinner.  He went about chopping up an onion, draining a can of beans, and just generally getting things out that he could throw into the bowl of hamburger meat he had set aside. 

One of the best things Danny had learned over the years about cooking was that there weren’t exactly too many rules that you actually had to follow.  You could pair whatever you liked together, measuring didn’t have to be exact, and you could use a variety of ingredients to achieve the same result in the end.  Things like meatloaf were actually some of his favorite dishes to make because of this.  He could add beans, peppers, carrots, and just generally anything and it would still taste good.

“You put beans in meatloaf?”  Turning around Danny saw Dash sitting at the table, books and papers laid out in front of him, and watching him.

“Along with a variety of other vegetables, yes,” he smirked and went to cutting up a few cloves of garlic to throw into the mix, “Makes it easier to get your vegetables when it’s mixed in well.  Plus I like the taste and texture of it all.  The jalapeños are mainly for flavor but they also count towards getting the greens.”

“If you say so… I’ll try anything you make but I’m not sure about that.”

“Trust me, you’ll love it and you can hardly taste the beans anyway over the salsa and ketchup and everything else.”

And it turned out it was true. 

After Danny had gotten the meatloaf done he had set out and started his homework along with Dash until it was time to pull it out.  To Danny it smelled great and he could see all the juices leaking out from the sides of it.  Once set out it was allowed to cool and he then served up a plate to Dash who examined it with an appreciative eye before taking a few bites.  He nodded in appreciation and said it really was better than he thought it would be before he started to eat more which allowed Danny to make his own plate and sit down next to his boyfriend.

With his parents gone for the afternoon to buy materials for the lab the two teens were allowed to eat in relative quiet only broken by occasional small talk.  It was nice, and eventually the two teens were full and right back to work on their assignments.  The two teens didn’t have much to do and after a while they were both done and sitting around the living room killing time.

“You ever think about coming out?”

“What?”  Danny looked up from where he was sprawled out over the couch at Dash who was flipping through channels for something to watch.

“Coming out… admitting you’re gay or whatever and, you know… dating me?”

Danny watched Dash for a moment before he sat up straight and watched as the TV changed channels every few seconds, “I’ve thought about what it might be like and how things would be different.”

“Think we ever will?”

“Maybe…”  Danny smiled, “But if I ever decide to do that I’ll talk to you first so don’t worry.”

“It’s not that, it’s just…” Dash sighed and turned and looked at him fully, “I want to be able to be out and a couple with you.  This sneaking around… yeah it’s kinda fun, but it sucks ‘cause I can’t like kiss you before going to class or hold your hand or do any of that other stuff couples do.”

“Maybe one day in the future, Dash, now c’mon…”  Danny moved to sit next to him and took the remote from his hands, “There’s gotta be at least one romantic comedy playing on TV and that’ll take your mind off of that for now.”

And with their arms wrapped around each other the two settled in for the rest of the afternoon to watch some sappy movie Danny had never seen before.  Nothing else was going on, everything was calm, and for Danny who’s life revolved around chaos and being a part-time superhero he couldn’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

All too soon though, Dash had to head home for the night and Danny had to get ready for bed.  He still had swim practice in the early morning that he needed to be awake for.  He was slowly getting used to the early hours but nothing could ever ready him for Adam.

The captain of the swim team wasn’t as bad as he had been with his advances, but he still occasionally flirted with him.  The worst part of it was that he seemed to flirt with a lot of other people or at least tease them.  That meant that Danny really wasn’t anything special to him and it was actually more annoying knowing that.  Not that he wanted Adam to hit on him of course, but if he was going to flirt he could have at least been serious about it.

Regardless the morning practice went by relatively easy.  Swimming and basic stretches were the most that they did before the coach told them they could take off.  After that came a shower and then Danny waited around the cafeteria while kids slowly started to show up for school.

From there the day went surprisingly fast.  He had a quiz in his math and English classes and a government test that he felt confident about.  At lunch Dash and Kwan sat with him to eat along with several other football players and Dash’s friends from his art class who sat with them for the first time.

Once school was let out, though, Danny felt himself both nervous and excited about what the evening promised.  He immediately drove back home and got himself as cleaned up as he could. He knew he’d be going to watch Dash play that evening so he didn’t bother to shower yet, but he did trim up the hair on his chin and got his suit laid out.  From there it was really just a matter of waiting around until he had to leave.

As soon as it got close to game time, Danny grabbed a jacket and headed out.  After saying goodbye to his parents he decided to transform and fly to the school and take in the view of everyone gathering around in the stands.

Scores of people were gathering all around, eagerly awaiting the teams to take to the field.  A majority of students sat together in random arrangements while the parents of the players sat closer to the bottom of the stands to cheer for their kids.  The band sat all together off to one side with their instruments messing around and practicing their number in order to kill time until they’d play at halftime.

None of that matter to Danny though at the moment.  He floated for a moment to take in the sight of the field all lit up before he turned away and headed towards the field house where the football players were already gathering and getting ready.  He knew Dash had to already be inside and that this was as good a chance as he was going to get to see him before the game.

Turning invisible and intangible Danny flew through the roof and into the looker room to look for his boyfriend.  Inside the various football players were in stages of getting ready for the game.  Most of the guys were still getting their pads and equipment on and several just sitting around already ready to hit the field.  Among the latter was the star quarterback that Danny was dating and he smiled to himself as he flew over to him as he looked in his locker for something.

“You ready for the game, Dash?”  Danny asked as he phased his head through the back of the locker and made himself visible to the other.

“Heh, you know it.  We’re gonna kick their butts and make the homecoming dance all the better for it.”  Dash whispered back at the head.

“Well I just stopped by to wish you good-luck and that I’ll see you at the dance after the game.”  Dash smiled at him and quickly leaned in to share a kiss while no one was looking at him.  It would look weird after all to see Dash leaning into his locker with his lips puckered after all, but Danny still took the offered kiss and gave a cheesy salute before he faded back out and headed towards the field to find himself a seat.

Half an hour later, the game started, and what a game it was.  Their side won the kick off but for the first half of the game that was about all the luck they really had.  Their opponents the Laytonville Scorpions dominated the field and scored touchdown after touchdown.  It wasn’t until the second quarter that Casper even gained position of the ball and managed to score a single goal while keeping them from scoring again.

Brutal barely began to describe the game by the time halftime finally rolled around.  The score was 28 to 7 and their team looked like they were about ready to drop from exhaustion already.  Even Dash looked ragged from everything, and Danny only hoped that they could pull through the next half.

After a fairly generic band performance, both teams took the field again and this time things really started to change.  Before Casper had been playing against Laytonville as mainly force against force, but now it looked like they were working more towards speed. 

Danny watched as Dash caught the ball and threw it down the field to where Kwan caught it and ran.  It was close with him barely dodging several players that tried to take him down, but he eventually managed to score another touchdown for their team.  The crowd roared in excitement from the play and the energy was practically tangible with how much rolled off of everyone, not that Danny was going to complain.

‘Now if we can just keep that up,’ he thought to himself as things slowly settled down and the other team got the ball.

The game continued with Casper slowly gaining ground and Laytonville being unable to pull much further ahead.  By the time the 4th quarter came around the score was just 38 to 34 and thankfully Casper had managed to take possession of the ball again.

It was close but by the time the game was finally over Casper had managed to pull ahead and win with a score of 44 to 40.  The crowd went nuts with excitement and everyone was cheering down at their team.  Several of the players were jumping around and hugging each other in some bizarre looking victory ritual and it looked to Danny that they might as well had won the Super Bowl with how they were carrying on.  It was crazy and scanning the crowd of players Danny saw Dash jumping and bumping around with the other guys, his helmet off and his hair a mess, and looking beyond ecstatic.

Slipping off from the stands, Danny made his way to a private place to transform. He had about an hour now to shower and get ready and while that might have been plenty of time normally he still wanted to make sure he was ready with enough time to spare. 

After a quick scrub in the shower, Danny quickly donned his tux and fiddled with it a bit trying to get it to sit right.  It was just a simple black tux with a deep blue vest and grey undershirt with a pale blue tie but it felt like it was a bit small for him.

“Guess I grew a bit,” Danny sighed but knew there was nothing he could do about it now.  He’d have to get a new tux or something in the future but that was a matter for another time.  Grabbing a few pieces of ghost hunting equipment and putting them in his pockets he went downstairs to bid his parents goodbye. 

They took a few pictures of him and told him to behave and that his curfew was midnight since it was a special night and generally told him to have a good night.  Before he left though his dad came up to him and put a handkerchief in his front coat pocket and winked at him.

“Be safe, have fun, and try to stay out of trouble.”  With that cryptic sounding piece of advice Danny just transformed and flew back to school where he changed back in a deserted bathroom.  Thinking it odd that his dad put a handkerchief in his pocket he pulled it out and examined it before he noticed that there was a small impression in the fabric.  Quickly unfolding it he saw a simple Trojan brand condom laying in the center of it with a small winking smiley face drawn on it.

“Dad!”  Danny hissed out through clenched teeth and had to stop himself from running his hands through his hair in frustration. 

Taking a deep breath Danny forced the embarrassment he felt to leave his mind before he went to the mirrors over the sink to check himself over once more.  His hair was tied back in a short pony tail, no smudges of anything on his face, suite still clean, and overall he felt this was as good as he was going to look for the night and that was fine with him.  Straightening his jacket once more he smiled and took a deep breath before he left and headed towards the cafeteria where a bunch of students were already mingling around waiting for everyone else to get there.

Looking around he saw several football players laughing and drinking some punch with their dates nearby.  A few of the geekier kids were sitting at a table talking and there were even a few kids already dancing to the odd song that was already playing that Danny couldn’t name.  It looked like a rather sub-par dance but it was still a dance and Danny had a date to it for a change and he was going to enjoy it to the best of his ability.

“Hey, Danny!  Looking for someone?” 

Turning around to find who was speaking to him, Danny smiled.  Eric was walking in with a few other guys who were on the swim team and a few of the girls as well.

“Just scoping out the scene, Eric, see who all was here.  You got a date?”  Danny looked at the girls that were with his group and saw a petite red head walk up to Eric who wrapped his arm around her.

“Yep, sure do.  I don’t suppose you know Felicity do you?  She’s on the track team.”

“Can’t say that I have, but it’s very nice to meet you.”  Danny gave her a smile and then looked past her to see that more of the football players were walking in. 

Excusing himself Danny made his way over to the guys and congratulated several of them on their win before they passed on.  After them several other students started to arrive and Danny started to feel a little anxious.  Dash seemed to be running late but then again Kwan wasn’t around either so maybe they were being held up by something.

“Dude, stop it!”  Perking up at the sound of a very familiar voice Danny looked down the hall and finally saw Dash and Kwan walking together.  Dash was wearing a nice tan suit with light blue undershirt and red tie while Kwan was wearing a more traditional black tux and white shirt, though his tie had a picture of a wave on it making it stand out.  What was unusual though was that Dash kept trying to shove Kwan away from him while the other teenager kept trying to invade Dash’s space.

“Just let me get this one bit of hair already.  I don’t want you to look stupid tonight especially after our win!”

“I look fine!  You’ve already messed with my hair enough, what are you my mom?”  Dash glared at Kwan and Danny winced as a familiar smirk came across his face.

“Mom?  No…”  He smiled and leaned in close to Dash and they were both close enough that Danny could hear him whisper, “But if you want to call me ‘daddy’ I would be flattered.  I think I’d look great in leather.”

Danny face palmed himself.  That was such an awful line, but it was such a typical teasing thing for Kwan that he couldn’t help not being surprised by it. 

Shaking his head of that weirdness though, and the mental picture of Kwan in a leather vest, Danny walked out towards them and met them in the hall.  Dash was now sputtering trying to come up with something to say to that and Kwan was laughing his head off at the dark blush across his face. 

It didn’t seem like they even noticed him until Danny was right in front of them.

“About time you guys got here,” he spoke playfully and shot a slight glare at Kwan who just shrugged a bit but otherwise didn’t look abashed at all from what he’d said, “I was starting to wonder what was keeping you.”

“We would have been here sooner, but someone kept messing with my hair trying to get it ‘just right’ for some unholy reason!”  Dash huffed and turned towards him allowing some of his anger to be replaced with a fond smile, “You look good though.”

“Thanks, you do too, both of you actually.  You clean up nice.”

Dash just smiled in that manner that always made Danny think of as charming, “Thanks, I-”

“Well he’d look better,” Kwan interrupted suddenly and glared at his friend, “If he’d let me try to slick down that little curl around the back of his neck and try to fluff it up some more.”

At that Kwan licked his hand and reached over to Dash’s head only for the jock to slap it away.  Kwan in turn slapped the hand back and the next thing he knew the two were slapping at each other’s hands and looking utterly ridiculous.

‘When did this become my life?’ Danny thought to himself before he stuck two fingers in his mouth and let loose a shrill whistle that jerked both of the other teens apart.

“Hey.  Remember me?  Now would you two stop it already and let’s get going?  People are already piling in and I want to enjoy this night.  Ok?”

They both looked appropriately abashed at what they had been doing, and Danny was quite glad for that.  Turning around he jerked his head and moved back towards the cafeteria and the two followed him with more easy going looks upon their faces.

Once inside they all mingled for about an hour, talking and going to dance with some of the girls before they had to part ways for a bit.  Dash, being the quarterback, was on the homecoming court along with Kwan, Fred, and several other guys that Danny knew.  That meant that before the dance could get truly started they all had to go and pair up with several of the girls that had been nominated for homecoming queen. 

He didn’t really care for this but he stood against the wall anyway and watched as Dash and Paulina walked along the stage they had set up for the night along with everyone else.  There was a speech done by the principal before an envelope was handed over and it was read out loud.

In all honesty Danny expected Dash and Paulina to win the crowns.  They were still the most popular kids in school after all and even if Dash was a bit more down to earth now than before he didn’t think the other guy’s popularity had really wavered that much.  Paulina too was just as beautiful and stunning as she’d ever been with a lot of extracurriculars to boost her standing from being ‘just a cheerleader’. 

That being said Danny actually felt his eyes bulge out a bit when Frank and his girlfriend where both named the homecoming king and queen.  He watched as Frank’s eyes went wide in surprise and his girlfriend giggled at his response before they got their crowns and they walked down and took the dance floor with everyone applauding.  The couple stood there for a minute accepting the applause before a slow song was started and they started to dance together.

“Surprised?”  Danny flinched and looked to the side to see that Dash had managed to walk up to him.

“Yeah, actually.  I would have placed money on you and Paulina winning this.”

“Yeah, you’d think that, but I talked to her and a lot of the other guys and suggested everyone vote for Frank and his girlfriend.  He’s just as popular as anyone else really and what with everything he went through with almost dying I thought this would be nice to do for ‘em.”

“That’s sweet of you,” Danny smiled and reached over to give his hand a light squeeze.  They were against the wall and it was dark so it was highly unlikely that anyone would catch the subtle display of affection.

“Yeah what can I say…” Dash shrugged and returned the squeeze, “I’m a pretty sweet guy.”

“That you are, Dash.”  Danny chuckled and slowly pulled their hands apart.

From there things only got better in Danny’s opinion.  He talked with a bunch of his teammates, danced with a few of the girls that also didn’t have dates, and thoroughly enjoyed the dance.  Even not being able to hang around Dash the whole time hadn’t put a damper on the evening for him.  Eventually though they started to pull back and make their way down to the teacher’s lounge where they had been taking a few things whenever they could to make a small party for themselves.

When they opened the door the teens smiled at the sight.  A few cups of punch and a few plates of finger food were set out on a table and there was just enough light from a lamp that would hopefully be overlooked.  It wasn’t fancy, there weren’t any decorations or anything, but they could still hear the music down the hall so it wasn’t that bad at all.

“Well it’s not much, but it’s ours for the night at least.”  Dash smiled and bowed to Danny while gesturing him inward like he was some fancy nobleman, “After you.”

“You’re such a dork,”  Danny couldn’t help but chuckle at his boyfriend’s antics and walked over to a plate to pick up a piece of melon that they had served in the cafeteria, “But I think we did alright. We’ve got enough stuff for a while and if we need more it’s right down the hall.  So long as we clean up anything I think we’ll be good.”

“Yeah…” Dash smiled and leaned his head back a bit as a new song started to play, “I think this is a good song… Ya wanna dance?”

Danny listened to the slow tune that was playing for a moment before he nodded.  He walked up to Dash and after a bit of awkwardness on where to place their hands they started to dance together. 

They each had on hand on the other’s hip while the other was on their shoulder.  It seemed the most natural way to be for them and after a few moments of stepping on each other’s feet they started to dance slowly and move around.  Dash mainly lead them back and forth along the floor space but Danny occasionally pulled back and forth in an attempt at some ballroom dance scene he had seen in a movie ages ago.

It was part playful part romantic and it all together somehow created an air of peace that they both had wanted for so long.  Here they weren’t just ‘friends’ together, here in this small darkened room they could be the boyfriends that they so wanted to be in public but couldn’t just yet.  Standing there and swaying to the gentle sounds of the music, they were two teenagers in love with no one to judge them, and Danny couldn’t imagine a better feeling than that.

“This is really nice,” Dash spoke up softly as they swayed together to the rhythm of a slow song with his head resting against Danny’s.

“It is…” Danny hummed and let his own head rest on the other’s broader shoulders.

“And as much as I hate to interrupt…”  Both teens yelled and pulled back in sudden surprise at the sound of an adult’s voice that was all too familiar, “I’d like to remind you both that you’re not allowed in here without a teacher’s permission.”

Danny cringed and pulled in on himself as he saw Mr. Lancer with his arms crossed and staring at them.  He was dressed nice in casual slacks and a brown dress jacket.  Behind him stood Coach Tetslaff wearing a dress suite that somehow made her seem even more intimidating than normal.  Both teachers were looking at them with expectant looks on their faces and Danny chanced a glance at Dash and saw that he was just as nervous as he felt.

“C-coach!  It’s uh…”  Dash spoke up suddenly and Danny turned to look at him as he started to fidget with his collar and tie.

“Please tell me you are not going to say ‘it’s not what it looks like’, Baxter, because I’m pretty sure what it looked like was you two dancing together.”  Coach Tetslaff frowned at him and Danny thought Dash was going to say something to deny that but was surprised when he straightened up and squared his shoulders.

“No, I’m not going to say that and that is what we were doing.”  There was a fragile resolve in Dash’s eyes that spoke of an approaching challenge and Danny knew that he had to strengthen that for whatever was about to come.  He stood by his side, pushed his shoulders back, and crossed his arms across his chest before he leveled a steady but non-threatening gaze at the two teachers.  Whatever they had to say he would face head on with Dash no matter what they said.

“You can relax, Mr. Fenton, you’re not in trouble and we’re not going to make a big deal about you two dancing or being together in here.”  Mr. Lancer gave them an amused smirk and Danny actually felt his shoulders fall slack at that.

“We’re not?  But you said-“

“I said that students are not allowed to be in here without a teacher’s permission.  You’re not in trouble for being together like this, in fact you’re not really in trouble at all so long as you boys haven’t messed up anything in here.”

Both of them said they hadn’t and that seemed good enough for Mr. Lancer who sighed and rubbed at his forehead like he was trying to fight off a headache.

“Honestly though, if you two wanted to dance together in private you could have just asked.”

“You-You mean you don’t have a problem with…”  Dash looked at the man and then looked back at Danny before looking back again, “Us?  Being like this?”

The look that Mr. Lancer gave Dash at hearing that was so flat that Danny would have actually considered it to be two-dimensional.

“Mr. Baxter, when I was your age I was a lover of poetry and on the cheerleading squad.  I was not popular with girls and not athletic in the slightest.  I was called nearly every nasty word for people like yourself you could imagine even though it wasn’t true.  Do you honestly think I would be against something like that which you yourself can’t help?”

“And before you ask if I would have any problem with you two or you being on the team in general, Baxter, consider the fact that I am not exactly a bastion of ‘femininity’, I’m bigger than a good deal of men, and I was not only on my high school’s football team but was stronger than most of the players then.  I’ve been called ‘dyke’ more times than I can count and I’ve bashed in heads for far less than that.  Point is you’re a damn good player and I want you on the team so cut that crappy thinking that I’d have any problem with it.  Ya’ hear?”

“Y-Yes, coach!”  Dash gulped and Danny reached over to grab his hand and give it a little squeeze, “It’s just… well…”

“You’re both frightened about how you’ll be perceived by the rest of the student body, if you’ll be rejected by everyone, if people will take your standard bullying-” At that Mr. Lancer gave Dash a very pointed stare that while Danny felt was uncalled for, still understood what he meant, “-Too far, and just being made to feel like you’re not worth basic human decency.”

Danny blinked surprised at that and nodded his head.  He wasn’t so much afraid of being bullied, but he was afraid that something might happen that would get out of hand.  There was also the fact that he already had a war to fight as Phantom and he really would prefer not to have to fight one at school as well.  Still though, it was a surprise that Mr. Lancer had voiced all that and the look on his face must have shown just that since the man started to chuckle.

“Do you really think you’re the first gay couple that I’ve taught, Mr. Fenton?  Far from it actually and you’re both not the first ones to think about using the teacher’s lounge for your own private dance party.”

“So does that mean we can stay here and uh… dance for a little bit?”  Dash fidgeted some more and Danny rubbed his thumb over the back of his hand that he was still holding.

“Well the dance doesn’t end for another two hours so I don’t see why not.”  Coach Testlaff shrugged and Danny just smiled at her.

“Thanks, ma’am,” He turned to Dash and reached around his hip to pull him into a slow dance that went well with the song that was starting to play, “Now I believe it’s my turn to lead.”

With that in mind Danny started to lead them side to side in a slow dance.  He was a little bit self-conscious doing this under the full scrutiny of these teachers but after a deep breath he tuned out their presence and lead Dash in their dance.

“Well, being as it seems wrong to just be a voyeur of one young couple…”  Danny glanced over at Mr. Lancer as he turned to Coach Testlaff and bowed to her while extending his hand, “Would you care to share a dance with me, Ms. Testlaff?”

“Why, Mr. Lancer,” the coach smiled and mimed a curtsy, “How could someone refuse such a nice offer like that?”

With that the two teachers started to dance together and the atmosphere seemed to lighten up a bit.  It felt perfect for Danny with Dash in his arms and the sounds of music floating down from the cafeteria.  Everything was just shy of perfect in his opinion, which of course meant that it had to all go downhill.

A single cold puff of breath escaped from Danny’s mouth and he groaned lowly as he pressed his head under Dash’s chin. 

“Fuck me…”  Danny could already tell this wasn’t a ghost he knew and that was likely cause for alarm.

“Well if you’re really up for it I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to it, though I’ll need to stop by a drugstore for a few things if you’re really ready for that.” 

Danny looked up at the blushing face of his boyfriend and blinked at him.  He was confused by what he was talking about until he replayed what he had muttered and cringed in embarrassment.

“Not… Not literally!”  He hissed quietly and turned to look at their teachers still in the room to make sure they weren’t listening to them, “I mean it like ‘damn it’ because my ghost sense just went off and that means-”

“GHOST!” As if on cue shouts and screams started to be heard from where all the students were and the occupants of the teacher’s lounge all split apart instantly.

“And it was such a lovely evening too…”  Mr. Lancer mused before looking at his dance partner, “You remember the good old days when the worst we had to look out for were students trying to spike the punch with whatever cheap alcohol they could get a hold of?”

“Yep, good times.”  Coach Testlaff grunted, “Let’s go heard these kids outta here then.”

“And as for you two,” Mr. Lancer turned towards them, “Don’t worry about the mess, you boys just get out of here and get somewhere safe.  We’ll clean up the food later.”

With that said the two teachers quickly rushed out of the door leaving them behind. 

“What are the odds that this is just some low threat ghost that you can take down in like two minutes?”  Dash asked with a pout crossing his features.

“With my luck?  Not good,” Danny sighed and transformed, “Doesn’t feel like anyone I know and there aren’t many ghosts that would come here unless they either knew me or wanted to fight me.  I don’t know how long this could take, but-”

“No.”

“You could-” Danny blinked at the interruption and stared at his boyfriend with a raised brow, “What do you mean ‘no’?  No, what?”

“No, I am not going to leave you here all by yourself.  I’m sticking around as backup in case you need it.  This is what I’ve been training for and you need someone to watch your back in case things get dicey!”

“Dash, please, I’ve been doing this for years and you’ve barely had a month to train.  You aren’t ready.”

“And how much training did you get before you had to start hunting down ghosts?”  Dash crossed his arms across his chest completely not amused and Danny could only sigh at that.

“Fair point.  You got any weapons on you?”

With a grin that looked far too happy about the prospect of an oncoming battle Dash nodded and rolled up his sleeve to show a watch that Danny hadn’t noticed before.  With the push of a button on the side the small device tinkered and rattled as parts and pieces moved until a small gun was formed.  It didn’t look like much but if Danny knew his parents he knew this little piece of tech would be able to pack a punch should the need arise.

“Nice,” Danny smirked, “But we’ll need a bit more than this.  Get to my locker and there’s a few things and a Thermos inside.  Get them and get back to the cafeteria.”

“Sounds like a plan,” and with that said Dash ran out of the room and away from the danger, for now.

Not wasting another second, Danny quickly turned intangible and flew out of the room and into the gym.  Most of the kids and teachers had already fled the scene and the few that were left were cowering behind tables looking for a chance to escape the ghost.  The ghost which seemed to not have done anything as the cafeteria looked relatively the same as it had when he had been there last.

Taking a quick look around Danny spotted the ghost that had interrupted their evening and tensed up at the sight.  The being looked very similar to Silk except this one had deep yellow and black plated armor instead of the dark gray of the moth ghost and a pair of long clear wings that were folded down over the back.  Another difference was the protruding abdomen like tail emerging from the lower back that extended for about a yard and ended with a very sharp and very dangerous looking glowing stinger.

What was even stranger than all of that though was that the ghost was just standing by the refreshment table apparently picking through the available food.  Confused at the lack of chaos the ghost was not causing Danny flew closer and to the side to get a better look at what was going on.

“Uh… Hello?  Can I help you with something?”

“Hmm?”  The ghost turned towards Danny and a smile quickly crossed the pale green face, “Ah!  Phantom, yes?  Bzezeze, pleasure to meet you.  I am Budy.”

The odd laughter that sounded like a buzzing bee threw Danny for a moment but he didn’t let his guard down as he examined the ghost before him.  Like Silk he had antennae but they were long and had little bulbs at the end.  His black hair was shorn into what would pass as a buzz cut and he stood relaxed and ready like he wasn’t there to fight.

“Bud…dee?”  Danny stared slightly dumbfounded about this guy and what his motivation might be.

“Yes.  B.  D.  Budy!”  He grinned wide and showed off his many pointy teeth as he spoke, “It stands for Bomber Drone.”

“Bomber…?”

“Yeees…?”  Budy tilted his head from side to side as he watched Danny for a moment before he frowned, “From the way Silk talked I had thought you’d be much more interesting to talk to.  Or are you perhaps ill?”

If there was anything that could have shaken him out of his stupor it was that.  With a connection to Silk now confirmed Danny raised his fists and charged them with ecto energy ready for whatever fight was sure to come.

“I’m fine!  And if you’re friends with that dusty blowhard you should know I’m not going to let you cause trouble around here!”

“Bzezezeze,” Budy laughed through his teeth in that strange buzzing laugh of his and folded his arms over his chest, “No trouble, not really.  I came to see if you were as strong as Silk said and to see how things were in the human world.  It’s been ages since I was here last and I have missed your world so much.  Such lovely food you humans make and grow.”

And to emphasize his point he popped a piece of pineapple that was on the table into his mouth.

“So you’re friends with Silk… but you didn’t come to fight?”

“I wouldn’t call us friends exactly,” Budy shrugged and picked up a glass of punch that someone had left behind and took a sip of it, “We are comrades by force so we have to work together under our current ruler or risk being expelled from the Insectis Realm of the Ghost Zone.”

“‘Insectis Realm’?  What’s that?”  It was certainly the first time he had ever heard of such a thing, but then again this was also the first time he had ever seen humanoid like insect ghosts so he couldn’t say he was surprised.

“Oh just one of the many places in the Ghost Zone, Phantom, no need to worry.  Though I suppose you should given our rulers.  They will want to come back to the Earth and destroy you all apparently or at least rule over you,” He shrugged and then picked up a chip and munched on it, “Shame really, you humans are such curious creatures and I always enjoy watching your kind and how you continue to grow and change while never letting whatever the planet throws at you stop you from progressing.  Marvelous creatures you are, truly, and you make such delicious food as well, bzezeze.”

“If you like humans so much then why would you help someone to enslave us?!”  Danny tensed back up and his hands pulsed with energy still ready to fight.

“Because right or wrong, they are my rulers and that is my home and I do not wish to be exiled from it.”  Budy actually had the gall to smile at that and it somehow made Danny feel even angrier than before, “Would you not do the same for your home?  Regardless of the humans that live in it.  I have seen many evil men and women in this world, many not worth protecting, but still you would protect them from the likes of other ghosts if you can.  Is that not the kind of hero you are; the kind that charged head first to defeat the King Pariah Dark for both humans and ghosts alike?”

“That… That still doesn’t make it any better following these people.”  Danny leveled his gaze at Budy but relaxed slightly.  This ghost was an oddity and peculiar but it didn’t seem he wanted to start anything.

“Which would be, in part, why I am here,”  He grinned and turned to face him fully with his hands on his waist, “I wish to spar with you.  Nothing serious of course just some simple fighting to test each other and get a feel of the waters so to speak.  If you manage to beat me I’ll even let slip some useful information.”

“And if you win…?”  Danny eyed the ghost suspiciously.

“Hmm… You get me 6 boxes of those small baked discs that are so popular?  Oh what are they called,”  Budy tapped his fingers on his chin looking up to try to remember what he was talking about and Danny just gawked at him unbelieving, “I am fairly certain it starts with a C…”

“Cookies?”

“YES!”  Budy grinned and pointed his finger at him, “That is what I would like if I win.  I enjoy those tiny desserts and you humans have so many varieties of them!”

“You’re insane aren’t you?”  It was the only logical conclusion Danny could think of to this.  The guy wanted cookies if he won.  He could crush Danny, demand his undying allegiance towards whatever cause his ‘rulers’ wanted, heck he could have demanded his first born child, but no he wanted six boxes of cookies. 

‘How is this my life…’ Danny felt his eye twitch when Budy merely shook his head to deny the accusation of insanity.

“I am very much sane, thank you.  Back to the matter at hand though, would you do me the honor of a spar?  We may even go out to that large rectangular piece of grass outside if you prefer.  I assume you would since it lowers the risk of damaging the structure of your hive here.”

“Hive?  You mean the school.”

“Yes, yes…”  Budy smiled and turned away from him, his tail blinking a steady green glow as he started to walk off, “I shall see you out there, please don’t keep me waiting too long I can’t stay around much longer.”

And with that he turned intangible and walked through the wall leaving Danny alone in the now quiet cafeteria.  It was staggering what had just happened and he was almost at a loss as to what to think about it when the doors were slammed open and Dash ran in with a few things wrapped around his torso and waist.

“Wh-” He looked around confused, “What happened?  Where’s the ghost?”

“Change of plan,” Danny flew over to him and grabbed his arm before turning them both intangible and flying out towards the football field, “Apparently this guy has info and is willing to spar for it and he’s gone to the field to wait for me.”

“And you’re going to fight him?”  Dash asked for clarification on this matter.

“No…”  He grinned down at the blond as he flew down to the field and sat him down, “We’re going to fight him.”

With a surprised grin on his face Dash nodded resolutely in the matter and followed Danny as they walked back onto the field.  The moon was out and casting a bright light on them and there was a slight chill from the early October night air but neither teen acknowledged it.  They only had their eyes and senses trained on the armored figure standing in the middle of the field looking around seemingly admiring the place.

Danny was ready for this.  He wasn’t going to get caught off guard again like he had with Silk.  It was just supposed to be a spar after all, but he still wasn’t going to hold back.  Dash was going to be fighting with him here, and if for no other reason that alone was enough to go all out and show his mettle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like writing Kwan, can you tell?  
> Anyone want to take a guess as to Budy's aims and ambitions? Think he's strong or just an idiot?  
> You'll have your answers in the next chapter I hope.  
> And as for Lancer and Tetslaff I think them being both like this makes the most sense and I think they're the most accepting of kids who fall under the LGBT+ spectrum. Lord knows they've probably taught a few kids like that each year, but what did you think of that?  
> Comments are appreciated and talking about things is fun and inspiring too.


	14. Grid Iron Grapple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and Budy spar and Dash gets hurt... but not by who you think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so sorry it's been so long but in my defense... I'm lazy forgetful and have been working on other things and this also slipped my mind. So there ya go. In other news I'm still working on this but also on several other things but this story is NOT DEAD so don't worry there I plan on continuing this even if it takes me ages more.  
> On a lesser note: the ghost here is named BUDY, B-U-D-Y not Buddy. It's a small an inconsequential thing that really doesn't matter much but I just want to put that out there so people don't try to point out all the "misspellings".  
> Other than that enjoy this chapter and enjoy the ending because that's certainly something I've been wanting to write for a long time.

Running through the empty halls of the school at night should not have been as hard as it was for Dash.  The nice shoes he wore though made it hard to get good traction on the linoleum.  He nearly slid and crashed into the walls three times before he managed to get to Danny’s locker and get it open. 

Rummaging around Dash quickly found the weapons that Danny had managed to store in his locker in case of an emergency.  There wasn’t anything big like the blasters or guns, because of the obvious, but he did have a few of the close range ones.  A couple of batons that were equipped with ecto-tasers, an extendable bo staff that could be used to hit ghosts with as well as erect a temporary shield, and of course the ever dependable Fenton Thermos were all in there and were soon strapped around him before he turned and high tailed it towards the cafeteria.

When he got there though he was surprised that the ghost wasn’t around and was even more surprised at what Danny told him.  This of course lead them to flying out towards the football field where he’d been less than a few hours ago and looking at this strange bee like human-like ghost that was looking around like he was admiring something from an art museum or something.

“Alright, Budy, I’m here.  You ready?”  The ghost turned around to face them and a surprisingly sincere smile crossed his features as he nodded.

“Oh of course, Phantom, how punctual you are, bzezezeze, that will serve you well in the future.  Oh?  And who is that beside you?”  Budy turned towards Dash and he had to take a deep breath to keep from tensing up, “I see he has weapons.  OH!  Is he going to participate in this spar as well?  Oh that is splendid.  This will be even more fun than I thought it would be, bzezeze.”

“You… Don’t mind?”  Danny eyed the ghost before them cautiously and Dash felt like this might have been a bad idea from how excited Budy appeared to be.

“Oh no, not at all, bzezeze,” he chuckled that strange buzzing like laugh again, “It has been a very long time since I had the pleasure of even fighting a human brave enough to want to spar with me.  I welcome seeing what this one may be capable of.”

“Is… Is this guy alright in the head?”  Dash whispered cautiously while not taking his eyes off the ghost before them.

“I think he’s just been in the Ghost Zone a long time and is happy at being here again… But honestly I have no idea.”  Danny whispered back still very obviously on edge about this, not that Dash could blame him.

“Very well, since a human is going to be joining in our little battle I suppose a few rules should be set up then to make it fair to him.”  Budy smiled and held up a finger

“Rules?  You actually want to fight fair?”  This was not something Dash had been expecting and Danny looked like he was about to have an anyuresm.

“Of course my dear boy, we are just going to spar after all so there’s nothing serious that is going to happen if you to win or lose.  Though I really would like those cookies, but still yes we should have some rules so it is fair to you.  I’m sure you could handle yourself in an actual battle just fine, but no sense going all out when there’s no need,” Budy kept his smile on his face and for some weird reason Dash was feeling like he could have actually liked this ghost if it wasn’t for the fact that he seemed to be part of something dangerous to the rest of that Ghost Zone place Danny always talked about.

“Back to business then,” Budy cleared his throat, “Rule 1.  No intangibility from either of us.  Most human weapons can’t touch us so it is really only fair, and besides our ghost attacks can’t be phased through anyway so it’s best for that.”

“That… sounds fair…”  Danny said slowly and crossed his arms over his chest, “Anything else?”

“Hmm… Yes.  No flying more than the height of that fence surrounding us.  The boy wishes to fight and seeing as he has no wings I am going to assume he can’t fly.  Hovering is allowed of course obviously and there’s no need to limit speed but I think that makes things fair for him as well.  Other than that I think there’s nothing else that needs to be said.”

“Fine…”  Danny took a step in front of Dash and got into a fighting stance that he had seen many times since summer. 

“Then let us begin!”  Budy grinned widely and charged at them with his left arm drawn back ready to punch.  He was fast despite the armor but that didn’t stop Danny from jumping out of the way and tumbling into a crouch before he returned the charge with his own fists.

With Budy’s attention focused on Danny and throwing punches back and forth for the moment, Dash got out the bo staff and extended it to its full length.  It was one of the more familiar weapons he had used when sparring with Danny and he felt that with it being held in both hands he’d have a better chance at keeping his grip. 

After a split second of looking for an opening, Dash charged into the fight with the staff pulled back and swung when he got close.  Budy obviously saw him coming though as he managed to block the hit with his arm and then jumped back out of range of them both.

“Not bad, not bad at all.”  He smiled and despite it sounding sincere it still had Dash on edge, “You are strong, human, that is very good.”

“You know… ‘human’ has a name,” Dash grunted, “If you’re going to call him ‘Phantom’” Dash jerked his thumb at Danny who stood by his side again ready for the fight to continue, “Then call me ‘Baxter’.”

“Ah yes, yes, how rude of me not to insist upon introductions first, but enough about that, shall we continue?”

Instead of wasting time with a response, Danny just started back up with the fight.  This time, however, after a few more blows were traded Budy’s hands started to glow and the tips of his gauntlets shifted into the shapes of stingers which he held up and pointed at them.  Dash didn’t like the looks of those spikes and apparently neither did Danny.

“Dash stay back!”

And it was a good thing that he hadn’t charged in just yet because the stingers had started to glow right before they shot out like small missiles.  Seeing the deadly looking things flying at them, Dash shoved the bo onto the ground and pushed a button that put out an energy barrier around him. 

The green energy that pulsed out from the top of the staff quickly covered him in a dome right before the stingers hit it.  The blasts didn’t pierce the shield though and after a moment the smoke gave way and Dash looked around.  Danny was standing off to the side with his own shield construct around him and was looking at him to see if he was alright.  Giving a quick thumbs up he cut the shield off and stared at the now applauding ghost before them.

“Excellent!  I had no idea that you were capable of magic, Baxter, I had thought that such things had all but vanished from your world but I see that you are a practitioner.  Marvelous!  You two are truly worth the time even if I should lose, bzezeze.”

“Magic?”  Dash stared at the chuckling ghost and then turned to Danny who just shrugged.

“That’s not magic, Budy, it’s technology, that staff is a machine my parents created to hunt and fight ghosts with.” 

“Oh?”  Budy actually frowned at that seemingly saddened by the fact that Dash wasn’t some kind of ‘magic user’ or whatever he had said.  The way he said it though started to form ideas in Dash’s mind about new comic plots and things but he quickly shoved that to the side to focus on the matter at hand.

“Shame… I suppose the old ways have been truly lost then… Pity.”  Budy sighed but then seemed to perk up as he examined the staff Dash continued to hold onto, “But still this is even more impressive in a way.  Few people could learn magic because it was so hard to come by books and teachers and all other reasons, but now I see your kind has invented machines that can actually allow you to fight on par with us.  Marvelous indeed!  Now, let us continue!”

Not wasting a second, Budy charged again.  This time however his gauntlets continued to glow and the stingers regrew as sharp and dangerous looking as before.  He slashed and jabbed at Danny in order to deliver any kind of scratch or stab, but thankfully Danny was quick and agile enough to avoid them and get further away. 

While the ghostly bee was focused on Danny, though, Dash charged in again with a swing to Budy’s side.  It didn’t seem to really affect him much, but it did get his attention for enough time that Danny fired an ecto blast right into his chest and knocked him away.

“You might want to use something a little more offensive, Dash,”  Danny turned to look at him and Dash nodded understanding what he meant without it even needing to be said.  This guy was tough, tougher still with all that armor on him and while Dash knew he was a strong guy, he was still only human and that was no match against a ghost.

“Right, I’ve got something else that might work.  You just keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll look for an opening.”

“Got it, just be careful alright?”

Giving him a nod Danny didn’t waste another moment.  Dash watched as he threw himself into the fight again throwing punches that were glowing green with ectoplasmic energy and seemingly putting Budy on the defensive.  It was amazing how fast his boyfriend’s fists flew but Budy was still able to dodge most of them and the ones that did connect didn’t seem to faze him much at all.

Not wanting to waste any time himself, Dash ran around them.  Glad that he had ditched his dress shoes for some comfortable sneakers before they had moved into the teacher’s lounge to dance together he was able to keep his footing as he moved behind Budy.  He was so focused on Danny’s attack that he didn’t have time to spare to the ‘human’ that was not as big a threat as ‘Phantom’ was, but Dash planned to make him pay for that kind of thinking.

He collapsed the staff and put it away before he pulled out the batons.  They were simple enough looking but at the tip were metal prongs that were for the tazing feature of the weapons.  When he had first come across these devices at Fenton Works, Danny had explained that they could deliver enough electricity to knock out most ghosts with simple contact.  With prolonged exposure to the electricity though even the strongest of ghosts would find it hard to continue fighting and that was what Dash was banking on with this.

Pushing a button on their sides Dash heard the crackle of electricity pass between the diodes.  The white blue electricity looked just like a miniature bolt of lightning and as he ran he watched for an opening to get in close.  Danny was still throwing punches and the occasional ectoblast but Budy was dodging and avoiding most of them while returning similar attacks along with his shooting stingers.

When he got behind Budy, Dash saw Danny give him a slight nod and then let himself be punched.  It didn’t knock him far but it did knock him down and it apparently took Budy by surprise as he stopped and tilted his head.

“You should have been able to dodge that easily, or did you plan that for some reason?”

“Why don’t you tell me?!”  Danny kicked down and flipped himself over away from Budy and it was at that moment that Dash had his opening and struck both the batons into the ghostly metal that Budy wore.

Dash wasn’t a scientist, he didn’t know much about amps and watts and voltage.  What he did know though was that however much electricity passed into Budy obviously hurt him quite a bit if his screams were any indication to go by.

The electricity crackled and the screams roared for a moment before Dash pulled back and Budy stumbled a few steps away.  There was a slight bit of smoke coming from his armor and skin, but other than that he seemed like he was trying to just keep standing.  Dash looked over at Danny who was standing tense and ready for any kind of attack to come, but none came.  Instead a low chuckle started to emerge from their opponent that quickly gained volume as he started to straighten himself up.

“Bzezezeze, that was an excellent move, Baxter,” Budy turned around and Dash felt himself tense expecting hostility, but instead was surprised by the genuinely happy look on his face, “A very excellent move indeed.  I should not have been focusing on Phantom so much that I ignored you, but I shall change that now.  You wish to spar as well and you use weapons so we shall see how you fare against me with one of my own.”

“Now just a second here!”  Danny started to fly towards them but Budy held up his hand without even looking back, his smile not even leaving his face for a moment.

“You needn’t fear, Phantom, I merely wish to see this young man’s potential and strength.  I shall not go full out against him and will not seek to harm him either.  I just desire to see his capabilities; that is all.” 

“You are the same aren’t you?”  He addressed Dash who tightened his grip on the batons he had, “That is why you are here, to prove that you can actually help and be of service to Phantom, correct?”

Dash felt himself nod and then looked over at Danny to give him a confident smile that he wasn’t sure he fully felt, “Let me try this, ok?”

When Danny looked at him he felt his resolve strengthen.  He wanted to fight beside his boyfriend and not just sit behind at home worrying about what was going on.  He might not be able to fully fight on the frontlines but supporting him was the least he could do.

“Alright, but if it looks like you’re going to be hurt I’m stepping in.  Rules or no rules I’m not going to let you get hurt.”

Dash nodded and Budy merely chuckled, “You two care greatly for each other.  That is quite a refreshing thing to behold.”

The ghost sounded sincere about that so Dash didn’t try to call him out on it.  Instead he tightened his grip and got into a formation that Mrs. Fenton had shown him several times with one baton held further out while the other was kept close.  One would lead for attacking while the other kept back for either defense or another attack.  It wasn’t much but it was a good solid form that she had instructed him to remember time and again during their training sessions.

“I wish to test your strength, Baxter,” Budy smiled and reached behind him to his stinger that had started to glow and extend.  When he grabbed it he pulled back and the stinger changed into a rapier type sword that Dash had seen in fencing pictures.  It wasn’t anything ornate or special looking but the sleek black metal of the blade and handle made it look even more dangerous than any design could have made it.

“Now by all means come at me with all that you have.  I will relish seeing how you preform.”

It was a test.  That much Dash knew and he honestly had no idea how this happened.  Knowing that however did not stop him from fallowing through with his attack.  He swung the batons one at a time as quick as he could before he pulled them back and tried to strike at another place, but each attempt was parried or blocked by the rapier that Budy held like he’d been wielding it for years.

“Very good form, Baxter, you have much power behind your strikes and are quite quick to pull them back to keep up your defenses.  You are still lacking though and your form needs refinement.”  Budy spoke calmly like a teacher to their pupil through each strike of Dash’s and somehow that both frustrated him and made him feel more at ease about this in some strange way.  “Keep your elbows down and your wrists straight.  Good!  Now use your forward momentum in your charge to add to your swing.”

The instruction to his form was something that Dash realized he should have known.  It was a lot like boxing after all and he’d been doing that for years so with that in mind he quickly readjusted his stance and found his attacks coming easier than they had before though he could still not land a single hit on Budy.

“Very good, but let me now see how you fair on the defensive.”  It was a sudden shift in his stance and one so sudden that Dash almost didn’t catch it.  Thankfully he had one of the batons held back to block the strike that came at his head.

“DASH!”

“I’m ok!”  Dash panted out and while he felt fine and hadn’t actually been harmed that attack had still left him a bit shaken and he felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest.

“A good move, Baxter, but if that is truly the level that you are at then you would do well with more practice.”

“I…I just got into this recently!”  It was a weak excuse and Dash knew it but he felt like he had to defend himself somehow.

“Regardless, you have much room to improve upon.  Now let us continue!”  Budy launched himself into a series of jabs with his weapon and Dash tried his best to avoid each one.  He’d block a strike from one direction and then have to block another one an instant later.  It was obvious now that Budy had been holding back a great deal when he had been on the offensive. 

“You show much promise though, young man.  Further training and experience will serve you well.  However,” Dash didn’t even see what happened.  One moment he was standing there waiting for another blow, and the next his batons were flung from his hands with a twist of Budy’s rapier and the point of it was pushed right below his chin, “You should focus more on your defense before attempting to battle a ghost of my level again.  Most others will not be as merciful as I am.”

To say that Dash was terrified at the moment would have been an understatement.  He felt the sharp point of the blade slightly digging into his skin of his throat and he knew it would barely take any more pressure to pierce him.  He stared at the rapier and the ghost before him holding it not seeing anything more than the immediate danger that was before him before Budy pulled the blade back and smiled at him.

“Still though you show promise and that is what matters.  You can lower your attack now, Phantom, as I said before this was just a spar and I have no intention of harming this man.”

It was at that moment that the tunnel vision Dash was suffering from started to fade and the surroundings came back into focus.  He looked behind Budy and saw that Danny was standing right behind him and had a very angry glowing fist aimed right at the ghost’s neck.  Dash had seen him charge his fist in order to fire off blasts of ectoplasm before but he had never seen it spark like it was doing now.  Nor had he ever seen the look of pure rage that was on Danny’s face.

It was terrifying.

Slowly Danny lowered his fist and the glow ebbed away but there was still a tension in the air until Budy reached behind himself and allowed his rapier to return to his tail and become a stinger again.  It was only then that Dash allowed himself to breath freely again and try to calm his racing heart.  It felt like it was about to burst with how fast it was going but after a few seconds he started to feel it slow.

Despite the blade being put sheathed and him backing away though, Dash didn’t let his guard down for an instant.  His batons weren’t near him at the moment but if he had to he’d dive for them to try and keep himself alive.

“Scorn is the name of the one who rules over the Insectis now along with his wife Nea.”

“…What?”  Dash looked at Danny as he stood in front of him.  He looked confused by what had just been said and Dash felt relieved that he wasn’t the only one lost by the sudden information.

“I said that if you won our little spar that I would give you some information, Phantom, and that is what I’m doing,” Budy grinned kindly as he put his arms behind his back.

“But I- I mean ‘we’ didn’t actually win though.”

“My dear boy, I have no doubt in my mind that you would have won our fight one-on-one, and I also know for a fact that if I had harmed that other young man behind you that I would have been lucky to escape with all my limbs intact let alone ‘alive’ for lack of a better word bzezeze.”

“But I still don’t get it!  Why are you telling me this?  Why are you bothering honoring something that doesn’t benefit you at all!  You say you serve this ‘king’ of yours no matter what but isn’t this like treason!”  Danny was yelling now and Dash reached out and squeezed his shoulder to steady him.  It was a small show of support and when Danny’s hand came to lay over his he knew the feelings that he was trying to convey were being felt by his boyfriend.

‘Calm down, everything is fine right now, accept this and figure it out later.’

There was so much that he wanted to say, but Dash knew right now was not the time to talk and that this was a critical moment for whatever was going on.

“It very well would be considered treason, Phantom, you are correct,” Budy gave a rueful smile as he stared at them before he turned away to look down the field, “But while I will serve our king that does not mean that I truly want to.  Lord Scorn is a horrific king who was almost as bad as Pariah was when he was at full power and his wife is none to better.  I serve them to keep those under me protected and safe, but if you were to learn more about them… and perhaps stop them…?  Well you would have the thanks of the most of the Insectis realm, but if you can’t then at least serving by his side will allow me to help those that are weaker.”

“So you just plan on using me to do your dirty work?”  Danny scowled and the ghost just laughed in that annoying buzzing sound of his.

“Not at all, I just feel that this is for the best.”  He shrugged and then got a serious look on his face, “Before the day you know as Halloween you must find a way of stopping them.  This month is important to ghosts as I’m sure you know and I have no doubt a plan is being laid in motion to conquer the human world.”

“Why would they want to conquer our world though?”  It just didn’t make sense to Dash if they had a whole ‘realm’ or whatever that they already ruled over then why go through the trouble of taking over their world.

“It is because, Baxter, that they originally ruled over the human world thousands of years ago and wish to reclaim it and extend their power so that they can never be stopped again.  With the power they have gathered from the Ghost Zone and the number of allies they have in both worlds I am quite confident that without a great force to oppose them then they will succeed.”

His face held no sign of deceit and Dash found that to not be nearly as terrifying as the sheer blank look that was on Budy’s face.  He wasn’t lying, he was being completely honest, and that scared him.  He was on this ‘Scorn’s’ side and likely knew a lot so he knew things they didn’t.  If he said that they had such a great amount of power then it was likely true, but it was the seriousness of him said more.

‘This is bad, he’s basically telling us that we’re going up against an army and that we won’t stand a chance unless we get one ourselves.’  It was unpleasant to think about for Dash and from the looks of how tense Danny was it seemed like he understood the same thing.

“This is a dangerous time for humans,” Budy continued on, “The ‘veil’ as it was called back in the old days thins around this point of the year and Scorn is planning to attack soon.”

“You mean on Halloween?”  Danny asked but it was obvious he knew the answer, it was an obvious conclusion and even Dash knew it.

“Not quite,” and that got both teenager’s attention.

“It is true that at the end of the month it will be easier for ghosts to pass to and from the Ghost Zone, but it is with the coming winter that ghosts gain more power.  Like it or not we are creatures born from the living that have passed on and with the coming months ghosts are able to hide better and grow stronger from the lack of life until spring.  Have you not noticed that before Phantom?”

“I…” Dash looked at Danny who looked down at his hands and looked to be puzzling over something in his head, “I have powers that relate to the cold but I’ve never really felt any different during the winter.  There was a ghost once that used the cold to hide her presence from me though,” the sudden tensing of his shoulders worried Dash for a moment and he wondered about the story behind that admission, “But other than that I’ve never really felt different during the winter.”

“Perhaps the old ways have been lost to the ghosts as well.  Truly a pity but it can’t be helped.”  Budy sighed slowly and looked away, “Be that as it may, Scorn will use the next month to gather his forces and will attack soon, likely by the next full moon.  I’d wager you have about 29 days before then, and that is all I have to share with you.”

“Wait!”  Budy had started to fly off but stopped just a few feet off the ground, his wings buzzing quickly just like the bee he looked like, “I have one more question,” when Budy nodded for him to go ahead Danny continued on, “A few months ago ghost insects attacked the realms of other ghosts but when we found out where they were coming from and attacked they eventually calmed down and stopped attacking us like we weren’t their problem anymore, and then a few weeks ago a bunch of insects attacked a bunch of people here and there have been weird occurances with insects all over town…”

It was an unasked question but the implication was clear to Dash’s ears: ‘Are these things related and what does it mean?’

“Yes…” Budy spoke slowly, “King Scorn is able to control arachnids and his wife Queen Nea is able to control insects.  Her majesty though had been sleeping for countless years though, recovering from a battle long since forgotten, but King Scorn was able to use his power to use hers and collect energy from the ghosts.  The occurrences in this world though are likely her attempts now to get reacquainted with her powers again and if she can perform such feats at this time you should be made aware that she will only get better and stronger as time passes.”

Dash let that thought run around in his head for a moment.  Those bees that had attacked them on the football field were because of this queen and from the way Budy talked it sounded like that wasn’t even the least of what she could do.  Added to that fact that she wasn’t as strong or in control as she had once been and it painted a grim picture in his mind.

After a moment Danny took a deep breath and nodded, “Thank you, Budy, I know this was very dangerous for you to do and I appreciate it.”

“You are more than welcome, Phantom,” and the sincere smile on his face said that he had earned a great deal of respect from the ghost this night, “I look forward to seeing the battle that we will eventually have to face and I hope that you will be able to fight against Scorn.  If you can manage to weaken his army enough then perhaps I shall fight alongside you but if you can’t then I shall not let my people suffer by being against him.”

And without another word the ghostly bee shot off into the sky and away from them. 

For a moment neither of them spoke or moved, choosing instead to look out to where Budy had vanished like he would come back at any moment.  Eventually though the tension in Danny shoulder’s loosened and he turned around and took Dash by his shoulders and looked him over.

“Are you ok?”  His voice held an edge of panic to it and he looked more worried than he should have, “You didn’t get hurt or anything, right?  Do you need me to get you back to my place and get looked over?”

“Danny.”  Dash couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of him at how worried his boyfriend sounded, “I’m fine.  Seriously he didn’t hurt me at all.”

It was endearing that he was so worried about him, so Dash let him fret for a moment looking him over before he finally pushed him back.  He was a nearly an adult after all and he didn’t need to be fussed over after every little thing.

“Seriously, I’m fine.  He was just testing me and I think he knew what he was doing to not actually hurt me.”

“You still can’t blame me for worrying.  That guy is on the same level of Silk after all and he was crazy strong.”

“Yes, but still you saw the fight and he didn’t actually land a blow on me,” Dash smiled and then got serious, “You think we can trust him?  About everything he said?”

“…Yeah,” Danny sighed after a moment and thought about it some more, “I think we can.  He seems honest enough at least.  I’m still going to get some people to look into things for this though, get everyone on high alert and tell them about all… This.”  He waved his hand around to emphasis the issue of ‘everything’.

“Sounds fun.  Want me to stop by tonight?  My parents gave me a late curfew because of the dance and said just to be back by midnight.”

“Sure, I think that’ll be just what I need,” Danny gave a tired smile and reached around Dash’s neck to pull him into a chaste kiss.

“What the FUCK, Dash!”  After just settling down from a post battle adrenaline rush the sudden shout startled Dash and both teens turned around to see a very angry looking Asian glaring at them.

“Kwan?!  What the hell are you-“

“No!”  Kwan interrupted him and stomped onto the football field.  He was still dressed up for the dance but he was missing his jacket and tie and looked like he had been running around a bit if his disheveled appearance meant anything.  None of that held a candle, though, to the look of complete rage that was on his face as he got closer to them.

“No, no, no, no, nope, nuh-huh, negative, no-sir, NO!”  Dash had no idea what was going on with his friend but when he finally got close enough he punched him in the gut hard enough for the wind to be knocked out of him and then was yanked up to be face to face with his red faced friend “What… The… FUCK, DASH!?”

“Kwan?”  Dash coughed a bit and looked from his friend to Danny and then back again not knowing what all he had seen or heard but not liking where any of this was going.

“No, you don’t talk right now, Dash, I mean just what the HELL do you think you’re doing?” 

Was he talking about the fight?  Had he seen him fighting that ghost and think he was nuts for doing something like that?

“I just can’t believe you!  You’ve got a good thing going for you, something that is sweet and good and all manner of sappy and are you really going to throw it away for something like THIS?!”

“Kwan…”  Dash managed to pull himself away from his friend and looked at him confused, “Just what the heck are you talking about?”

“Wha…Talk… I-buh-gah-AHHHH!”  Kwan yelled and turned away and made various sounds that Dash wasn’t sure was the language his family sometimes talked in or just gibberish before he turned back around and poked him in the chest, “I’m ‘talking about’ you CHEATING on Fenton with PHANTOM of all things, Dash!”

“Uh…” Dash turned to Danny who just stared at him in shock.

“You and Danny have a good thing going, Dash, GREAT even!  I mean when I look at the two of you together I think that ‘yeah this is what I want one day’.  You know minus the whole two penises thing because I’m still straight no matter how much I like to tease you guys.”

“KWAN!”  Dash was mortified by that blunt discussion about his anatomy and now felt confused and embarrassed by everything even as his friend went on to admit that he might consider doing a ‘gay-for-pay’ thing should the opportunity ever be offered, whatever that meant.

“But still!” Another hard poke to his chest and his friend went right back to looking ticked off, “You have a good thing with Danny and it’s something that could seriously last past high school and you could actually have a life with him, but are you seriously going to throw it all away for a cheap thrill with this hero-crush thing you have with Phantom?”

“Excuse me?!”  Dash sputtered, “I do NOT have a ‘hero crush’.”

“Oh Puh-LEASE, Dash!”  Kwan rolled his head around clearly exasperated with this, “You draw a comic with him as the star, you’re like his biggest fan and now here you are after a ghost fight apparently and getting kissed by him.  I mean is this why you even started dating Fenton?  Because of his ghost hunting parents you thought that maybe one day Phantom would make you his sidekick or something?”

“Uh…” Dash looked at Danny as he shifted his weight from foot to foot for a second before he jerked his thumb back, “I think that maybe I should-“

“And Yooou!”  The angry glare that Dash had been subject to through all this was now turned towards Danny and Dash actually cringed at how he flinched from it.

“Me?”  Danny gulped nervously as Kwan now marched over to him and poked him in the chest hard enough for him to stumble back.

“Yes, ‘YOU’!  Just what the hell kind of hero are you?”

“I-“

“Should know better than to be kissing a guy who’s already got a boyfriend, I agree!  I mean what the fuck kind of precedent do you think you’re setting here?  Do you even know about the Fenton kid?  I mean he’s a great guy and I’m sure you’re all well and good but he’s human.  Fuck, he’s alive!”

Kwan ran his hands through his hair and suddenly looked a bit green as he turned to Dash again, “Does this make you a necrophiliac?”

“A what?” 

“Uhg…” Danny groaned and Dash looked at him feeling more lost than ever, “You don’t want to know and no it does not because I am still alive.”

“‘ALIVE’?!  YOU’RE A GHOST!  BY DEFINITION YOU ARE DEAD!”  Kwan shouted and honestly Dash was a little worried that his friend was about to have an aneurysm or something from how stressed he was.  He could even make out the throbbing veins on his temples from where he stood.

“Listen… Kwan, right?  I know this is very confusing and stressful but I assure you that everything is fine.  Now I really need to go so stay out of trouble.”

“Oh no you don’t!”  Kwan grabbed hold of his leg as Danny started to take off, “I’m not done tearing you a new one!  I want you to stay the fuck away from Dash and keep your paws offa him!”

“Okay wow… I will do that but now I’m outta here because this is majorly uncomfortable.”  He looked over at Dash and shrugged helplessly before he phased out of Kwan’s grip and took off.

“HEY!  I WASN’T DONE YET!  GET BACK HERE!”  Kwan yelled off into the sky and Dash honestly wondered if his longtime friend was going to be alright.

“Sorry to cut and run like this,” Dash jerked at the cold wisp of Danny’s voice as he spoke into his ear, “But I really need to get back to my place and start making some calls.  Still see you later?”

Dash gave a nod and when he heard nothing else assumed he had finally left leaving him on the football field with a very ticked off looking friend.  Kwan was fuming and breathing through his teeth at this point as he glared at him and stalked over to him.

“Listen here, Baxter!”

“‘Baxter’?”  Dash tilted his head confused but Kwan just grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled them until they were close enough for him to feel the angry breath of his friend.

“You and me are going to Fenton’s house.  Now.  You are going to tell him all about… THIS!  And I can only HOPE that he forgives your sorry cheating ass for pulling something this stupid!”

“Kwan.  Really this isn’t what it looks like so just drop it.  Please?”

“No…”  Kwan crossed his arms and did not let himself waver, “I’m not letting you get out of this, Dash, you’re either going to tell him yourself or I will fill your life with misery and woe until the day I die and then I’ll haunt you until the day YOU die and then I’ll chase your soul throughout whatever afterlife exists for us until oblivion claims BOTH our souls!”

Dash just stared at his friend for a moment blinking in shock before he was able to find his voice again.

“Wow I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this mad before.”

“I’VE NEVER BEEN THIS FUCKING PISSED OFF BEFORE, DASH!” Kwan shouted.

“Geeze Kwan just calm down, I’ll go tell Danny now so-“ Dash started to turn around but was pulled back around.

“No, WE are going to Fenton’s house, and I’m going to make sure you do this!”  And the look on his face just dared Dash to argue with him.

‘Crap, I have no idea how we’re going to have to deal with this…’ Dash gulped nervously but just nodded and jerked his thumb behind him, “Okay… I’m parked over there.”

“Good, now move!”  Kwan spun him around and then shoved him forward towards the car.

The car ride towards Danny’s house felt a lot longer to Dash than it normally did.  For starters Kwan wouldn’t let him turn on any music and for another he insistently drummed his fingers on the center console of his car.  He was still tense and angry and Dash honestly had no idea how he was going to handle this.

Pulling up towards Fenton Works Dash didn’t even try to convince Kwan that it’d be fine.  Instead they just both got out and Dash walked up to the back door and knocked.  His friend just stood behind him and taking a chance to glance back at him showed that he had his arms crossed still looking angry and drumming his fingers on his arm until Danny appeared and opened the door. 

“Hey Dash I- Kwan?”  His boyfriend stared at them from the opened door, still wearing his dress pants and undershirt and Dash looked up at him with pleading eyes trying to silently beg him to help him, “What’s going on?”

“Dash has something to tell you and I’m here to make sure he does.”  Kwan huffed and pushed past them both to get in.

“I am so sorry about this,” Dash whispered, “But he wouldn’t leave it alone and I have no idea what to do.”

Danny just nodded and stepped aside for Dash to come in and then stood in the middle of the kitchen looking around awkwardly.

“Well, Dash,” Kwan tapped his foot impatiently, “Don’t you have something to say?”

“Uh… well…,” Dash gulped having no idea how to handle saying that he kissed his boyfriend in his super hero persona in front of his best friend who only thought he was cheating on his boyfriend with said superhero and honestly that thought alone made him question all of his life choices up to that point.  Regardless of that, however, Dash knew he had to do something so a good mix of truth and lies might be convincing enough.

“I uh… when that ghost attacked and we ran out I said I had to go back and get something from my locker and I’d meet you at your place.”

‘Just mix in what happened with a few lies and maybe Kwan will buy it.’ Dash thought and took a deep breath.

“And I did go to my locker but I just got out some ghost hunting tech that you’d loaned me to practice with and then ran into the cafeteria to see if I could help and I saw Phantom there and he saw me and said he could use some help.  So he took us both out to the football field and we fought the ghost and then he flew off.”

“Aaaaand…?”  Kwan asked tersely.

“And… Phantom and I kissed before Kwan caught us together.”  Dash said that last part fast and honestly cringed at how stupid it all sounded.  After a moment of nothing being said Dash looked at Danny to get him to say something but he looked just as lost as he felt.

“Uhh… Well ok then.”

It was the stupidest thing Danny could have said and both teens cringed at the fact he’d said it.  Looking back at Kwan he was surprised to see his mouth hanging open like he couldn’t believe he’d just heard that.

‘At least that puts us all on the same page then,’ Dash thought wryly.

“That’s it?!  Danny, he was kissing Phantom behind your back and that’s all that you’ve got to say?!”

“Uhh… Dash how could you?”  The sound of a palm hitting forehead reached Dash’s ears and he honestly wasn’t even surprised given how that had been said.

“That’s it?!  Danny he was kissing Phantom!  This might not even be the first time and that’s all you’ve got to say about that?  I mean I guess it’s great that you’re not so bothered by this and it’s not something big enough to break you guys up or anything but still!”

“Well I mean if he had the chance to make out with Phantom then I guess I can’t blame him for it.”  Danny shrugged.

“This seriously doesn’t bother you?  I mean do you guys have like an open relationship that you didn’t tell me about?”  Kwan looked over at Dash but he just shook his head.

“No, that’s not it,” Danny looked more awkward the longer this went on and Dash couldn’t blame him, “I mean I can understand it.  There’s a few guys out there who if I ever got the chance to do anything with I’d take it I guess.”

“Really?”  That was news to Dash and he was surprised to hear that, “Like who?”

“Well I guess Coach Johnson for starters,” and at that admission Danny blushed and Dash blinked in surprise.

“The baseball coach?  Seriously?”

“Well yeah, he’s kind of hot.”  And judging by the way he was now blushing Dash knew he wasn’t lying or anything.  He honestly thought their school’s baseball coach was hot and it threw him for a loop to hear.

“I can’t believe you think that Coach Johnson is hot,” Kwan gapped and it suddenly hit Dash about how weird this was getting.

“Well I can’t believe we’re talking about this stuff with you!  I mean you’re straight so why are you discussing things like this so often?”

“Hey I’m confident enough in myself to acknowledge the sex appeal of other guys.  Just because I can see why a guy would be considered hot to someone else doesn’t invalidate my being solely attracted to girls.”  And at that Kwan seemed to snap out of things.  He shook his head and then looked back at Danny, “but still you’re just ok with him being with Phantom and making out with him?”

“Kwan…”  Dash sighed and looked at Danny trying to convey how sorry he was when he got a questioning look in return, “Danny?”

“I can tell him if you think it’d be easier.”  And he didn’t need to say anything else for Dash to know what he was talking about and he was floored that he’d suggest something like that.

“No, Danny, you don’t have to tell him that.  It’s your secret and you shouldn’t need to feel like revealing it unless you want to.”

“What secret?”  Kwan looked between the two but Dash ignored him for now.

“Dash, he’s your best friend and he thinks you’re doing something awful and if telling him that will make things easier I don’t mind.  Besides you trust him, right?”

“Tell me what?”  Kwan asked a bit more pointedly but still Dash ignored him for the more pressing matter at hand.

“Of course I trust him, but you shouldn’t have to feel like you have to tell him this just to have me save face with him.”

“Dash… It’s ok, I mean it was bound to be something that’d be an issue eventually and really…” Danny shrugged, “Right now seems as good a time as any to tell him.”

And it was enough that Dash just couldn’t help himself anymore.  He closed the distance between them and hugged him tight.

“If you’re sure.”  He had to ask one last time before Danny did something he couldn’t take back.

“I’m sure.” It was an immediate response and also seemed to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back since Kwan finally snapped.

“AHHH!  JUST WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON THAT YOU ARE HAVING SUCH A HARD TIME TELLING ME?!”

“Well… You really want to know the real reason why I’m not upset about Dash kissing Phantom and all that?”  At Kwan’s hesitant nod Danny just smiled crookedly and let the lights that Dash was all too familiar with emerge from his body and pass over him revealing the black jumpsuit and white hair of their town’s resident hero.  “It’s because I am Phantom.”

Dash looked at Kwan as his jaw hung open for several moments.  He stood there staring and not making a sound for several minutes before he finally raised his hand and pointed at the emblem on Danny’s chest.  It was strange but at least he wasn’t freaking out and yelling anymore so Dash was taking it as a win so far.

“I think he’s in shock.”  Danny whispered and right as Dash was about to respond Kwan fell to the ground.

“Kwan!”  Dash rushed to his friend and looked him over and was relieved when he saw that he was still breathing fine.

“Is he ok?”  Looking back at Danny, Dash saw that he had changed back and was looking at Kwan with concern plastered all over his face.

“Yeah,” reaching under his back and knees Dash hoisted him up and walked into the family room where he gently placed his friend down on the couch, “He’ll be fine, he just fainted is all.”

“Well that’s good, and I’m sure once he wakes up he’ll have a bunch of questions and things but he’ll be fine about all this, right?”

In all honesty Dash didn’t doubt that in the slightest and he nodded in agreement.  He knew his friend would freak out a bit, but this wasn’t going to be anything major.  It would just take some getting used to and after that he’d have someone he could talk more openly with about everything and maybe even share some of the stories and adventures he’d heard from Danny.

“And hey, look at it this way: Now he can’t BUG you about kissing Phantom anymore.”

Dash just face palmed at that pun and groaned not even deeming it worthy of a response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny: You aren't funny  
> Dash: I'm not sorry at all  
> Kwan: You are a good friend to both of these boys and they don't deserve you covering for each other.
> 
> But really PLEASE comment on what you thought of all that, I had a lot of fun with this chapter and hearing from everyone on it would just be awesome.


	15. Info Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gathering and relaying information is important as is relaxing and letting yourself rest. With what Budy shared Danny has a lot to share and talk about with his ghostly allies and with Kwan now in the loop even more things are going to be changing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter full of things both useful and… well Kwan’s here so that should be more than enough to tell you some things. I swear half of this is serious and the other half is humorous but it’s all part of the plot and life of these dorky teenage boys. Also an Easter egg here in the dialogue that shows where I’m from and a few things about Danny that address a bit of what he’s ‘into’ if you get me. Anyway teenagers talking about sex, good natured teasing, and relationships: enjoy it while it lasts because I think I’m going to make things more intense soon.  
> Also I'd like to think the rating should go up to M because Kwan has a dirty mouth and a filthy mind and seriously has no filter or shame but don't think it fully warrants it.  
> Still though: The boy needs church!  
> (But not really because we all love him just as he is.)  
> Anyway, mostly moving the plot forward and some slight fluff and info gathering like the title says. Enjoy.

If there was ever anything Danny hated more than having his evening ruined by ghost attacks it was relaying information.  Things just never went well when he had to tell more than three people things and this time he had to not only tell his parents and Vlad, but he had his friends and a few ghosts as well.  It honestly could have been a lot worse but things weren’t looking good for them and he was tired after everything that had happened earlier.

Once Kwan had been placed on the sofa, Danny had talked to his parents and told them what had happened.  After that he had called Vlad who said he would be right over and then he pulled out his laptop to video chat with his friends about what had happened. 

“So apparently the one behind all of this mess is named King Scorn, he has a queen named Nea, Budy is a part of something called the ‘Insectis’ realm, magic might be real, we’re looking at an attack sometime in the next month, Kwan now knows my secret, aaaaand… I think I’m in way over my head, but what else is new.”  Danny shrugged and looked over at the sofa where Dash sat talking on his phone to someone.

“Geeze, Danny, we go away for a few months and everything just falls apart for you.”  Tucker chuckled but then got a serious look on his face, “Listen if you need my help just tell me and I can catch the first bus or plane back to Amity I can find.”

“Same here, Danny,” Sam spoke up from her little window looking ready to march into battle already, “If you need our help we’ll help.  Just give us a warning to prepare and get there.”

“Guys, guys… It’s fine, don’t worry.”  Danny let out a long breath of air and rubbed at his face, “I mean I know I’m in over my head with this but it’s not so bad.  I have a lot of powerful allies now that can help with this mess.  And if I can make it look like we might stand a chance Budy might be persuaded to help us as well which might actually convince others to do so as well.”

“That’s a mighty big ‘might’ though, Danny, so don’t put so much hope in that,” Tucker scoffed, “But seriously, you need us for anything?  I can do some digging around the web see if I can find something useful.”

“Yeah and if this guy is supposed to be real old chance are there’s some books or legends about him somewhere,” Sam said with a good deal of confidence, “And if they all are insect like then maybe that is a good place to start looking at for attack ideas.  Undergrowth is still there, right?  So maybe he can help make some large fly trap plants to thin the ranks so to speak.”

“It’s possible, but right now everything is up in the air.  I’ve got a lot to do between now and then and we all have a lot to prepare for,” At that moment a knock came from the door and Danny sighed with a roll of his eyes.

“COME IN, VLAD.”  He didn’t even need to check to know it was Vlad, he was the only one who’d be coming here at so late an hour and when the man opened the door he gave him an unimpressed look, “You have a key and we were expecting you, Vlad, you don’t have to knock.”

“It’s called ‘being polite’ Daniel, something you should keep in mind if you ever hope to succeed in the world once you graduate.”  Danny responded to the haughty reply with another eye roll and then turned back to his friends on the screen.

“So got anything else you need me to tell ya?  I think I covered the basics.”

“Nope, Tucker and I will do some research into this Scorn guy and see what we can turn up.  Between the two of us hopefully we’ll be able to find something.”

“Right, and hey maybe Ghostwriter will have a book or something,” at the pained look on Danny’s face Tucker just smirked, “Really, Danny?  You both should have moved on past that already.”

“I destroyed his book and then got him thrown in Walker’s jail.  We don’t exactly have a good history together even if he’s out and back at his library again, but I’ll look into it.  Anyway thanks for the help guys I’ll keep you in the loop.”

And with that bit done, Danny sighed looked back over at Vlad who stood with his arms behind his back looking annoyed with something.

“So want me to start from the beginning of my night or just skip to the good parts where we’re all essentially screwed?”

“Before any of that happens…” Vlad drawled and looked at the couch Kwan was on, “Who is this and why is he here?”

“Long story.” Danny shrugged feeling no need to explain things much, “He knows my secret now though and he’s a friend of ours so don’t worry about it.”

“Daniel…”  Vlad gave that long suffering sigh that Danny knew meant he thought he’d done something stupid but only waved at that.  It was his secret and he’d share it with whoever he felt needed to know and that was his own business.  Seeing the smug look that he was showing to the man Vlad just glared for a moment more before he held up his hands in defeat, “Fine… I don’t care.  Just tell me what has happened and what you learned before anything else.”

“I’m actually waiting on Skulker and a few of the others to show up first.  The fewer times I have to tell everyone this the better.  I only told Sam and Tucker because I figured they could start on some research first and maybe find something useful.  Go on downstairs to the lab though, I’m going to go tell Undergrowth to join you and then be down as soon as Kwan wakes up or the other ghosts get here.  Whatever comes first.”

“Your priorities are still very askew, Daniel, but fine.  Since you seem to be unharmed I suppose this isn’t serious yet.”  And with that he walked past them and towards the lab not sparing them a second glance.

“Your uncle seriously needs to get laid, man,” Dash deadpanned and Danny just about choked on his own spit.

“Dude!  Seriously don’t go there!”  Danny coughed a bit as he chuckled, “But yeah he does often seem tense, but we’re not really one to talk since I haven’t got any action other than my left hand in over a year and from what you told me I think the same could be said for you.”

“Please, I’ll have you know that is totally not true,” Dash snorted like Danny had just insulted one of his comics but he just raised his eyebrow curiously because Dash had never told him about any sexual experience he had had before.

“Really now…”  Danny turned around fully to look at him head on and studied his face. 

“Yeah!”  Dash smirked and crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his chin, “I use my right hand thank you very much.”

Danny just laughed at that and grabbed a pillow to chuck at his ridiculous boyfriend.  He was honestly such a goofball at times but he was still sweet and he appreciated the attempt at humor after the night they had just had.

“Alright, alright then… so who were you on the phone with and how’s Kwan looking?”  He craned his neck to look at the guy but he didn’t seem to be any different than he was since he’d fainted.

“Oh I called Kwan’s parents.  I told his mom that we were going to stay the night at your place because we had made plans tomorrow to see your meet and then I called my mom and told her the same thing.  I figure going home right now while everything was a bit chaotic would drive me nuts anyway so might as well stay and get some answers.”

“Good plan, and hopefully Kwan will be up for everything being explained and won’t freak out too much.  Honestly, though, I am not looking forward to that meet tomorrow.  I’m tired, drained, and now with all this information I feel more anxious than ever before.”

 “Want me to give you a massage later on?  Might help you fall asleep.”  Dash shrugged like he didn’t know what to actually do and Danny just found himself smiling at that.

“Maybe, that actually sounds good, but I’d settle for just about anything that takes my mind off of everything for awhile.” With a sigh Danny pushed himself to his feet and headed toward the kitchen, “I’m going to grab something to drink and then check in on Undergrowth.  You good?”

With a simple nod and a thumbs-up from Dash, Danny headed towards the kitchen, pulled out a bottle of water, and proceeded to make his way to the backyard where Undergrowth had planted himself for the night. 

“Hey,” Danny poked at the plant to get him to stir, “Undergrowth, c’mon wake up.  I’ve got information to share and you need to wake up.”

Undergrowth grumbled a bit before his eyes blinked open.  He looked tired and confused for a moment but still seemed to be aware of what was going on at least.

“Phantom…?  Leave me alone, it is night and the sun has long since set.”  He grumbled and then his eyes shut much to Danny’s dismay.

Honestly, it made sense in a weird way that was somehow actually normal considering everything else in his life; plants needed sunlight to produce food and energy.  No sun meant no energy and thus: sleepy ghost plant hybrid.  Just because it made sense though, did not mean that Danny had to like it or let nature take its course with it.

“Sorry, bud but this is important.” And with a small blast of ice from his finger Undergrowth yelled in shock and instantly glared down at him.

“Sorry,” though he wasn’t really that sorry at all if he was going to be honest with himself, “But like I said: this is important.  Just fought a ghost and we finally have a name to place for all the attacks including the one on your realm.”

“An attack?”  The older ghost frowned, “More of the bugs?”

“Yeah, he was a lot like Silk only he was more like a bee, or maybe a hornet… Wasp?”  Danny shrugged, “I really don’t know but he had a stinger and all that sort of stuff.”

“That is… troublesome…”  Undergrowth held his chin thinking about things for a moment, “I assume we are about to hold a conference in the lower part of your domain?”

Giving him a nod Danny watched as the ghost sunk into the ground to get to the lab, “Very well I shall meet you downstairs.   Please hurry I need to conserve my strength as much as possible if I am to return back to the Ghost Zone in the near future.”

With the fall starting to set in, the temperature was getting colder.  That meant that the plants were starting to prepare for winter and that also meant that Undergrowth would be heading back to his home soon.  He had regained much of his strength in the last few months and it was almost time for him to go back to his realm.  Danny was going to miss him once he left but he understood that he had to go.  Honestly he was just glad that he was now an ally and not trying to take over the world anymore.

With that done Danny walked back into the house and into the living room where he found Kwan finally awake and looking, for lack of a better term, twitchy.  The big guy was shaking slightly and Danny couldn’t tell exactly but he thought he looked a bit paler as well.  It was actually a bit sad to see a guy that Danny thought of as so strong and confident looking so shaken but he knew that he’d be ok.  He just had to process this for a bit.

“I see he finally woke up, huh?”  Danny stood at the doorway watching them and trying to figure out where to go from here.

“Y-yeah, he just woke up and I’ve been trying to explain things to him and well…”  Dash waved his hand at his friend and Danny nodded getting the gist of it all.

“Yeah, I get it, it’s a lot to swallow all at once,” he smiled at Kwan and tried to sound as sincere as possible, “But you don’t have to get worked up about it, alright?  Just take a deep breath and remember that this isn’t really a big deal.”

“I seriously beg to differ,” Kwan laughed nervously and ran his hand through his hair, “But I’ll be ok.  It was just a really big shock and wow… You can float around.  I wonder what zero-gravity sex would be like.”

Blood instantly rushed to Danny’s face at that and Dash looked the same.

“Wait… have you two had sex like that?  Have you had sex at ALL?”  Kwan was looking between them now and Danny was torn between embarrassment and fury at the incredulous tone that he was asking that with.  His sex life (or lack thereof) was not something Kwan needed to ask about so blatantly.

“He’s fine.”  Dash emphasized with a hard shove to his friend’s shoulder, knocking him into the couch cushions.

“Well that’s good I guess,” Danny muttered and rubbed at his face to try and ease the tension from the initial embarrassment, “Now you two want to come downstairs?  We’re going to be meeting some people and talking about what happened tonight and you might as well come and listen in if you want.”

“Now when he says ‘people’ do you mean…?”  Kwan asked from behind him and he heard Dash chuckled as they all moved towards the lab.

“Yeah a few ghosts are going to be dropping in for a chat about what happened tonight.  Vlad’s also here now, my uncle who helped change the school lunches,” Danny looked back and Kwan nodded at that as they reached the stairs, “And he’s got a lot of connections and things and knows a lot about ghosts too so he’ll be helping too.”

“Helping with what though?  I mean what exactly is going on that you’re calling in help for?”

“In a word?”  Danny turned to look at Kwan as he reached the bottom of the stairs, “Bugs.”

And while Danny knew that was a bit cryptic it really was all he had to go on that he could easily share at the time.  Looking forward he saw Vlad talking with his parents by one of the computers and off to the side Undergrowth stood with his arms crossed and eyes closed.  Despite showing few signs of anything though there was a tension in the air that Danny felt growing and he knew that what he was going to have to explain would likely bring out even more.

 “Well we’re here...” Danny waved his hand at his parents and Vlad and looked around, “Now we’re just waiting for Skulker and the rest to get here.”

“How do you even contact them anyway?”  Dash looked at him curiously and Danny realized he had never actually told him much about this sort of thing.

“Well you see there’s this ghost named Technus and he made a device that he added to my phone that would let me send messages to the Ghost Zone.  I just text a few of them and they get the message on their own ghost phones or whatever they are.  Still don’t know how he managed to work a chip that can communicate across the realms but then again they’ve had Ouija boards for talking with the dead so I suppose it’s not that out there.”

“That… is really… really weird…,” Kwan stared seemingly stupefied by this information and Danny would have responded to it if he hadn’t felt a wisp of cold air escape his mouth at that moment.

“Oh they’re here.”  And a moment later a few ghosts started to pile out from the portal, and they all looked very tense.

“Skulker, glad you could get here so fast,” he nodded to Technus and Ember with similar greetings and then walked over to a stool and sat down, “So you want me to start with the news that explains who’s behind all this garbage that’s been bugging us since summer or do you want me to start with the more obvious news about how screwed we all are?”

It didn’t really matter where he started and everyone knew that so he just started telling everyone what had happened that night.  He explained about the new insect like ghost, what he had been like, and everything he could think of.  There was no detail that he left out that was influential to what was going on and as he wrapped up his retelling of events he looked at each of the ghosts in turn before his eyes landed on a very scared Undergrowth.

“You know about this Scorn guy, don’t you?”  Danny questioned carefully not wanting to spook him or make him angry.

Undergrowth shook his head like he was trying to deny everything, but Danny knew something bad was about to come from him.

“It is impossible.  He was slain millennia ago along with his queen.  There is no chance that they could be revived… unless…”  He let out a long drawn out breath and crossed his arms over his chest seeming to be thinking on things.

“C’mon, Undergrowth, if you have an idea about what’s going on tell us.  Anything will be useful at this point.”  Danny looked him in the eye and held his gaze before the ghost finally nodded.

“There… are rituals that can restore ghosts if there is a fragment left of them to be used.  It is based off of the regeneration ability that ghosts like myself possess.  It is possible that one of his loyal soldiers managed to collect at least a piece of his body and used it to revive him over the course of several thousand years.  And if he was revived then I imagine that the same thing happened during this summer.  A great deal of energy is needed for the ritual and using all the ghost insects to collect it I am almost certain now that he was collecting it for the revival of his queen.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us any of this?”  Skulker scoffed.

“He had been dead for thousands of years!  There was no reason to suspect he was behind what had happened!”  Undergrowth shouted and grew larger to tower over the hunter.

“Okay now just calm down,” Danny got between them and held out his hands to try to placate Undergrowth, “No one is blaming you,” he turned to shoot a warning glare at Skulker, “Right?”

Watching as he let out a huff and something that he was not going to call a pout Danny turned back to Undergrowth who had gone back to a less intimidating size, “Now… any chance that this ritual can be reversed or are they back and we have to beat them again?”

“At this point they are likely fully revived, it is just a matter of gaining more power to finalize their plans.”

“Great…”  Danny let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair, “Great… just freakin’ great… Okay so this is gonna be just like Pariah Dark isn’t it?  We just gotta beat this King guy and Queen and then everything can go back to normal; simple, piece of cake!”

It was simple, but Danny knew it wouldn’t be easy and from the looks he was getting from everyone around him they knew it too.  Pariah had been incredibly strong all by himself, but this time they had to deal with two super powered entities with armies behind them.  Danny knew this was going to be a war that he honestly wasn’t sure how he was going to handle, but at least for now they had time to prepare.

“Right!”  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “We have until the end of the month to gather our forces, prepare strategies, and figure out battle plans.”

Danny spoke with as much authority as he could muster and then turned to look at the three ghosts that had assembled there tonight, “I need you three to spread the word and inform our allies to get ready.  Dora, Pandora, Johnny and Kitty, just everyone who will fight on our side; they need to know what’s going on and what we’re planning.  Skulker, think you can also do some reconnaissance and maybe find out where this place of Scorn’s is?”

“A tracking mission?  Sounds like fun,” he smiled cockily and crossed his arms in amusement.

“Just reconnaissance, Skulker, think: stealth.  We don’t need them finding out that we’re onto them.”

The hunter huffed at that and Danny chose to ignore the now obvious pout on his mechanical face as he turned towards the other two ghosts.  Some things were just better off not acknowledging.

“Technus I’d like you to set up a communications network between the larger realms so that we can get information on any future attacks, also as this goes on I think it’d be best to have everyone able to communicate in case they find more information.  If you can just set up a phone system that allows us to talk to each other that’ll be enough.  After that if you can find any way of helping make more weapons for the upcoming battle-“

“It sounds like a true challenge, Ghost-child!  I accept it and will show ALL why it is best to fear the name ‘Technus’!”

“Anyway…,” Honestly Danny had had a long day and he was so about done with all the overly dramatic ghosts in his life, not to mention the overly dramatic people who were standing next to his boyfriend whom he wouldn’t outright name out of politeness, “Ember, after you’re done come on back here.  I want to practice that boosting power of yours along with mine and see if we can get that to work better.  Right now we’re dealing with an army that is far out of our league and any advantage we can gain over them will be awesome.”

“You’re the boss, dipstick, I don’t care how we beat these bozos just so long as we do.  Besides better than sitting around in the Ghost Zone waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“And, Undergrowth,” The plant ghost jerked in surprise at being addressed; “I’m going to need you to conserve as much of your strength as you can for this fight.  Store as much of your power as you can, grow whatever healing herbs and plants that you can spare, and if you need water, fertilizer, any kind of minerals in the soil you let me know and I’ll get it.  You’re one of our heavy hitters and you’re going to be a big help in this fight but you’re also going to be very vulnerable to these ghosts so I want you to get as strong as you can before it.”

“Plants are thought of as being weak because they cannot move and are easily treaded upon,” Undergrowth spoke calmly, “But they are masters of patience and persistence.  They adapt to thrive and grow where other things could not hope to live.  I will show these creatures just what I am truly capable of and they will regret what they did to me and my realm.”

“That’s what I like to hear!”  He couldn’t help the grin that came across his face, “I think that’s everything really.  We’ve got less than four weeks to get our acts together, assemble our forces, and figure out a plan of attack.  We can’t lose this and I’m sure that with all of us working together we’ll be able to beat this Scorn guy no sweat.” 

It wasn’t much of an inspirational speech in his opinion but it seemed to do the trick for his ghostly allies.  With a nod to them he turned and looked back towards Vlad and his parents feeling done for the night, “That being said though, if it’s ok with you guys we’re just going to go upstairs and chill for a while before I have to get to sleep.  I’ve got that meet tomorrow and after tonight I really need to get some decent shut-eye.”

“Of course, Danny, you boys go on ahead.  I think we’ll talk a bit more and maybe come up with a bit of an outline on our first steps for this fight and then head up as well.”

With a nod of his head to his mother Danny turned back towards the stairs and slowly started to trudge up to the kitchen again.  He was hungry and he wanted something that would either rot his teeth or clog his arteries.  It had been a long night and the need to destress was high on his priorities list.  Normally he’d find a nice calm activity to relieve any tension he had, but with Kwan and Dash both around he didn’t think that would be the polite thing to do.

“Ok so I’m too tired to actually cook anything so I’m throwing a pizza in the oven.  That’ll take about 30 minutes and after that I’m good for whatever so long as it doesn’t involve much thinking or effort.”  He huffed out a breath and went about setting the oven and getting the pizza out while the other two sat at the table.

“So… You do this sort of thing often?  Set up battle plans and talk to ghosts and stuff?”   Danny looked at Kwan as he put the pizza on a tray to bake.

“Not ‘often’ exactly but I do have to do this sort of thing on occasion for smaller scale stuff.  The Ghost Zone is pretty big and there’s not exactly any set government or ruling class there for most places so there’s always trouble and sometimes ghosts need my help or will be chased out and cause trouble here or any number of other things,” He sighed and placed the pizza he had on a tray and stood by the oven to wait for it to finish preheating, “Really though it’s gotten a lot better the last few years but still things happen.  This has actually been the biggest thing to happen since that huge hurricane we had hit here last year.”

“That was ghost related?”  Dash blinked at him in surprise and Danny rubbed at the back of his head.

“Uh… yeah, a ghost known as Vortex caused it which was actually a pretty good thing really because I had to out myself as Phantom to my parents because I needed some help to take him down.  So silver lining and all that,” he shrugged and turned to put the pizza in the oven when he saw it was almost at the correct temperature.  He placed it on the center rack, set the timer and then turned towards the two football players, “So, movies or video games, guest pick.”

“Movies sound good to me.  Too worn out for anything even if it’s just random button mashing,” Kwan said and really Danny didn’t blame him.  The night had been a bit more stressful than it should have been and the poor guy had been exposed to a heck of a lot of new information in the last hour alone.

“Well if that’s what we’re doing then I’m going to go change,” Dash suddenly stood and started walking towards the stairs.

“Well you know where everything is so you do that.”  Danny watched him go and then turned to see that Kwan was grinning at him, “What?”

“He keeps his clothes here?”

“He has some clothes to work out in, a few shirts, a pair of night pants, and a change of underwear for when he stays over.  Why?”  Danny frowned not seeing why Kwan would ask.

“He keeps clothes over here, man.  Has he got like his own drawer or something?  Do you share clothes?” 

“Well yeah he has a drawer for his own stuff and sometimes he’ll borrow a shirt or a pair of shorts from me.  Once borrowed some boxers because we had to throw all his clothes in the decontamination washer downstairs but… Why are you grinning like that…?”

And really the grin on Kwan’s face was almost creepy with how wide and unprovoked it seemed.  What made it even worse was the light giddy laughter that looked like he was trying very hard to contain.  It was actually a little bit concerning especially after all those questions but Danny just stood there and waited for him to talk.

“I’m sorry, dude, it’s just…”  He let out a slight high pitched noise and just bared all his teeth in a wide grin, “You two are like so adorable!  You’re swapping clothes, he’s got a drawer here, you’re like one of those couples that can actually last past high school!  You’re both adorable and I just can’t get over how awesome and happy I am for Dash and for you!”

“Well… Thanks, Kwan,” Danny smiled and couldn’t fight the slight blush on his cheeks at hearing that, “I’m glad you approve so much about us and everything.”

“Not a problem, I’m just glad Dash is happy and with someone he actually cares about,” he shrugged and then turned towards the living room where Dash had just come back into view, “And speak of the devil and… wow.”

Kwan bit down on his lip and Danny blinked at him confused for a minute until his boyfriend came back into the kitchen.

“Hey, Danny, I couldn’t find my pajama pants so I just borrowed a pair of yours; that ok?”

“I think I might have thrown them in the wash, but sure, Dash, you know I don’t mind.”  And he really didn’t.  Honestly Dash filled out the night pants rather well and Danny liked seeing him in the dark blue fabric covered in star patterns and moons. 

“Thanks, and I got a change of clothes for you too, Kwan…”  Dash turned to his friend and his face got a bit harsher as he stared at his friend’s face as it looked like he was trying to keep from laughing or something, “What’s with you?”

“Nothing!”  He said far too quickly and both teens knew he was lying.

“Right…”  Dash drawled not sure what was going on, “Anyway… Got you some of my work out shorts to wear for the night and a shirt to change into.  They’re on the couch so whenever you want to you can grab them and change.  I’m going to go set out the movies and set up everything.”

“Thanks, Dash,” Danny smiled as he walked back to the living room and then turned back to Kwan who was still biting down on his lip, “Okay what’s with the look?”

“He’s wearing your clothes!  Oh, God you guys are just so friggin’ cute!”  He slapped his hand over his mouth and laughed, “You guys are practically married, well except neither of you are getting laid-“

“Kwan!”  Danny hissed in embarrassment.

“Well actually since neither of you are getting any it actually is pretty much like you’re married, I know my cousin complains all the time about how neither she nor her husband have time for any real intimacy these days with 2 kids but my point stands really.”

“Just go get into those clothes and get settled in… The pizza will be ready in a few more minutes and I’ll make us some popcorn too.”

“Sounds good to me,” and with a two fingered salute Kwan walked off leaving Danny alone in the kitchen.

Having Kwan in on his secret was starting to look like a mixed bag of news to him.  On the one hand it meant that Dash had someone to talk to about any issues and fears he might have, plus extra help if he wanted to join up, but the other hand seemed to hold a lot more mischief and playful banter.  Just having him know about their relationship together and any minor details seemed to give way to more good natured teasing than he ever thought possible so Danny had expected something similar to come from this.  It likely wouldn’t be bad but it would just be something he’d have to deal with.

Sighing to himself he turned to look at the timer on the oven and went around the kitchen to get out plates and make some popcorn.  By the time he had everything set out and ready the pizza was ready to come out and from there it was just a matter or starting to take everything into the living room where he saw Kwan looking through the movies they had while Dash finished pulling the fold up bed from the couch.

“Pizza’s ready, just gotta let it cool for a bit and we’ll be good to go.  Find anything you like, Kwan?”

“Yeah,” he turned towards him and grinned holding up both the Fantastic Four movies, “I figure we can watch these.  Got plenty of action for me to enjoy, lots of romantic moments that Dash will enjoy-“

“HEY!”

“AND…”  Kwan continued ignoring the interruption of his friend, “It’s got Chris Evans shirtless in them and since you seem to have a thing for hairy guys…”  He wiggled his eyebrows and Danny had to fight down the urge to create and throw a snowball at him.

“Just because I said I thought Coach Johnson was hot-” 

“Hey, man it’s cool, I’m not going to judge you for your personal preferences,” Kwan held up his hands to placate him, “Plus maybe now Dash will stop shaving his chest now that he knows you’re into that sort of thing.”

“KWAN!”  A pillow flew through the air and hit the other teen dead center and Danny turned to see Dash more red than he’d ever seen him before.

“What?”  He turned towards his friend with a grin, “You always said that no one finds hairy guys attractive and that’s why you did it but Danny seems to be into that.  I mean you’d have to be to think Coach Johnson is hot.  I have seen that guy without a shirt on and he has a pelt, man.  Seriously.”

Instead of answering that, Dash just made a series of incoherent noises until he sat down on the pull out bed and buried his face in his hands.  Danny meanwhile took this new bit of information and suddenly realized how dry his mouth had become.  Kwan, though, looked like he was confused about everything going on and just rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, I’m just stating facts here.”  And without any arguments against it he went to load the first movie in.

Shaking his head at how this was his life, Danny returned to the kitchen and sliced up the pizza before bringing it and the bowl of popcorn back.  Once set on the coffee table he went back and rummaged around for some cups and a few things of coke before he brought them back and set them down.  It was pretty much the perfect example of a date/guy’s-night-in and Danny was looking forward to some relaxing after that fight.

“Sweet you got the Mellow Yellow,” Dash grinned and poured himself a glass.

“Yeah I know you like it more than Sprite so I try to keep some around for you,” Danny smiled and used his powers to make a few ice cubes for their cups before sitting down next to him.  The title screen was on and Kwan was making himself comfortable on the loveseat waiting for everything to be settled in before pushing play.

Once the movie started the three of them grabbed slices of pizza and ate their food in relative peace and quiet.  They chuckled at the funny bits but kept quiet through it all until Johnny ‘Flamed on’ for the first time and Danny felt himself jerk as something suddenly occurred to him.

“Something wrong?”  Dash looked at him concerned and rubbed at his shoulder that wasn’t pressed up next to him.

“I think…,” Danny reached over and paused the movie before he dragged his hands down his face, “I just realized something.  About that first football game you guys had and that attack by Desiree and… He said his name was ‘Dune’ right?”

“The ifrit you mean?”  Kwan asked while turning to face him fully.

“Yeah… He said something about taking me back to ‘feed’ someone right?”  At the jocks’ nods Danny went on, “Well what if he was planning to take me to that Scorn guy and they’re all in league with each other?”

“From what we saw that genie ghost and that ifrit guy were pretty strong… That going to be a problem you think if they are working with this king?”  The concern on Dash’s face was clear at the question and Danny couldn’t help but answer the sincere look with nothing less than complete honesty.

“Desiree is a problem in herself, but Dune was also pretty strong.  What’s more though is that there’s no telling how many more ghosts will side with this guy just to avoid going against his power.”

“In other words,” Kwan surmised somberly, “We’re in a situation where the enemy’s forces are both vastly unknown and incredibly powerful.”

“‘We’?”  Danny asked.

“Well yeah!”  Kwan scoffed like what he asked was obvious, “Dash is learning to fight to help you and Dash is my bro in all but blood, so of course I’m going to help out too and there’s not a chance in hell that you’ll be able to convince me to stay out of this, Danny.  If Dash fights, I fight; ‘nough said.”

“Uhg… Fine…!  You can come over and train with Dash.  Maybe that will even help him improve his own skills and get ready to back us up with this…” Danny sighed heavily and sunk down into the couch and his boyfriend’s side, “I don’t want to call it one but I guess this really is going to be like an all-out war…”

“War…” Danny looked at Dash as he spoke the word and watched as he seemed to taste it on his tongue.  It couldn’t be easy and the tension he had in his jaw said that he was no more fond of this than anyone, but Danny knew he wouldn’t back down from this if it meant helping him.

“Not even old enough for the draft yet and already marching off to war,” Kwan chuckled and turned back towards the TV, “We’re nothing but misguided children, huh? Trying to do things that are beyond us but that at the same time we can’t ignore and not do… It’s crazy.”

That was certainly one word for it, but it was also something for later.  For now Danny just wanted to cuddle and enjoy the rest of the movie so he pressed play and let the movie resume.

Every so often they would reach for something to eat or drink, and just enjoyed the rest of the evening.  By the time the first movie was over they were all starting to get tired and got ready for sleep before settling back in to finish the last movie.  Dash had finally shed his shirt as he slipped under the blanket Danny had pulled out for them and Danny copied him before joining him there for the night.

“You worried?”  Dash reached around and rubbed at Danny’s side and he couldn’t help but pull them closer together so that his head was resting on the larger teen’s shoulder.

“A little, but… not so much.  Everything is still so far off that I can’t really worry about it right now.  It’s like a project that’s due in a long time that you can’t get motivated to do until it gets closer to the deadline I guess.  Least that’s how it feels right now,” Danny took a deep breath before letting it out in a quiet sigh, “I guess I’m just trying to suppress things for now is all and wait until we know more before freaking out.”

“That’s a good way of thinking I guess,” Dash reached down and rubbed at Danny’s stomach and he couldn’t help but smile and return the favor feeling the short bristles of hair that grew around Dash’s naval.

“So you really shave your chest, huh?”  At the sudden tenseness in Dash’s body Danny couldn’t help but pat his stomach and chuckle, “It’s fine, I don’t think any less of you or anything, but… can I ask why?”

“I just… I matured faster than most of the other guys in middle school and it made me self-conscious so I just started to shave my body hair and I just kept doing it when I got to high school… It’s lame I know.”

“It’s not lame to have issues with your body, Dash.  You think I didn’t have issues before I started to work out and get into swimming myself?  I was a stick and I hated taking off my shirt and having everyone around me being able to count my ribs.”

“So… you want me to stop then?”

“Only if you want,” though if Danny was being honest he really did want him to stop.  He really did have a thing for hairy guys and Kwan hadn’t been wrong about Chris Evans as Johnny Storm either.  That man did things to him that were better off saved for his own private time.

“I’ll think about it.  I never really let it grow out so I’m not sure what it’ll look like; though, if my dad’s any indication I’ll probably end up with a thick pelt just like him.”

“Sounds attractive to me.  Heck my dad’s got a ton of chest hair so I’ll probably get that way too when I get a bit older.  Thankfully I’m not too hairy right now because I have to keep pretty smooth for swimming right now.”

“Oh so ‘you really shave your chest’, huh?”  Dash teased but Danny just shrugged not feeling embarrassed by it.

“I’m a swimmer, lots of guys do it if they’re really hairy, but I just trim any I have down.  You’ve felt it before. ”

“I do notice it when we make out and my hands slide up your body, but I didn’t think about it much.”

“Uhg will you two just go to sleep already?”  Kwan groaned from the loveseat he was lying on, “It’s been a really long night and you both need to sleep.”

“Kwan, I swear if you don’t shut up I will overshadow you into picking out the pinkest, frilliest, and most God-awful outfit I can find to wear and then march you around the entire town.”  Danny grumbled.

After a beat Kwan just scoffed and wiggled around on the sofa to get situated again, “Go ahead, I’d rock anything you could put me in.  I have great legs.”

“How is he real?”  Danny asked incredulously not knowing how anyone like Kwan could actually exist.

“I honestly have no idea,” Dash sighed out and then leaned down to kiss Danny on the lips, “But he’s right.  I’m beat and you have that competition tomorrow so let’s get some sleep.”

“Right,” and with that Danny turned off the final lamp in the room and plunged them into darkness. 

The night had been rough and there had been a lot to take in, but for now he could let everything slide away until tomorrow.  Here next to his boyfriend everything was fine.  There were no ghost bugs out to take over the world, there were no life threatening battles on the horizon, and everything was peaceful.  Danny knew that these feelings wouldn’t last and he’d be forced to deal with them soon enough, but for now he chose to forget about it all in order to enjoy what very well might be one of the last peaceful nights of sleep he’d have until this all was over with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Danny, he just wants to cuddle his hunky boyfriend and not think about what's going to happen next.  
> The night of the dance is Friday October 2nd. That means October 31st is a Saturday 4 weeks from tomorrow here. There's a lot that has to happen, but Danny and company can't just shirk off everything to fight. Things are going to be hectic but Danny is going to make sure things work out and with Kwan as a new player in the game maybe things will turn out better.  
> Guess you'll just have to keep reading to see.


	16. Pool House Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dash and Kwan go to root on Danny at his Swim meet. Things are learned and thoughts are had but it's nothing that these boys can't get through with help from each other and their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Saturday October 3rd, they have until the 31st to stop everything which is also a Saturday. They have four weeks to make plans, train, balance school and extracurriculars, and figure out how to take down a giant army of ghost bugs and who knows what else. It's going to be quite the month to be sure.

**October 3rd**

The smell of chlorine was not something that Dash thought he would ever really enjoy, but being in a pool house ready to cheer on his boyfriend/school team made it bearable at least.  That and the view he had from the stands with Kwan made everything else much better.

Danny was pulling himself out from the pool they were at after doing a few warm up laps and Dash couldn’t look away as the water dripped down his torso.  The drops just ran down the curves of his chest and stomach before hitting his swimsuit and Dash honestly had to question how wearing something that form fitting was legal to wear.  The front view alone made him blush when he realized he’d been staring a bit, but when Danny walked over to the benches he had to drag a hand down his face at the sight of the fabric clinging to his butt.

“Keep staring like that and you’re going to set him on fire,” Kwan smirked and nudged him with his elbow.

“Sh-shut up.”  Dash hissed at his friend and forced himself to look away.

“Hey it’s cool, I can see where your mind is and it’s fine.  I just don’t think you want ‘little Dash’ to make himself known in a public place like this is all.”

“Kwan!”  Dash growled and took a deep breath to quell his mortification, “Just… stop, ok?”

“Sorry, sorry,” he held up his hands in apology before turning back to look at the swimmers that were still finishing up their warm up, “Still though, he is very attractive.  I can see why you have a hard time not looking at him.  Reminds me of the guy I lost my virginity to actually, only he had brown hair that was buzzed on the sides.”

“What?!”  Dash turned to look at his friend in shock.

“I think it’s called an undercut or something?” Kwan shrugged not understanding what Dash was asking about exactly, “Made him look a bit like a punk, but in a ‘don’t mess with me because I will mess you up worse’ tough guy kind of punk, ya’know?”

“Not that!  I mean… You… you had sex… with a guy?”  Dash was red faced at asking such a personal question but this was just too weird not to question.

“Well, yeah,” Kwan shrugged like it was nothing, “I mean I knew I liked girls but I didn’t know if I liked guys too so I decided to experiment some.  Had myself a good time, but just wasn’t my thing.  Totally straight, no-homo… Uh, no offense of course.”

“Are you kidding me?”  Dash stared hard trying to catch some tell that would show his friend was lying but none seemed to come.

“Course not, I even told you about it remember?”

“I remember you saying you had sex before with a girl last year but you never mentioned the guy.”  Looking around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear them or anything he turned his full focus back on his friend, “When did that even happen?”

“Oh it was in October during fall break when I went to visit my older brother at his college.  He let me look around some and I found this party and I hooked up with this freshman girl and after a few drinks we ended up in someone’s bedroom and then the clothes came off and well… penis in vagina,” He shrugged, “Sex was had, we both had some fun and she seemed to have no complaints.  I told her it was my first time and she said she was actually impressed that I wasn’t as bad as her first was.”

“Not the girl!”  And honestly Dash was wondering how his friend could both be so smart and so apparently stupid at the same time, “I meant the guy.”

“Oh that happened during spring break this year.” Kwan grinned and leaned back on the bleachers like he was reminiscing about a good time, which Dash guessed he was, “We went to visit family in Florida and while at the beach I was walking along the boardwalk bored as hell.  Went to a concession stand for a drink and hang out under a fan ‘cause it was humid and hot out when I see a baseball game on and I get to watching it.  I watch it for a while and then a guy asked if I was a fan of either of the teams.  That lead to some minor conversation that got more friendly as time ticked by and we shared some stories and things, turned out he was on break too from a high school up in Georgia and one thing lead to another and I guess I was being too friendly and didn’t read into what he was saying because the next thing I know he has one arm over my shoulders and his free hand is on my thigh rubbing it.”

“You have got to be kidding me…”

“Nope!”  Kwan smiled, “But anyway at that point I just ask if he has been hitting on me and he gets confused and asks if I’m gay which I say ‘no I’m straight’.  Then he gets really flustered and mutters apologies and looks like he’s about to leave but I stop him and explain that he doesn’t have to just leave.  Of course then I look him over and he looks pretty handsome; lean build, strong arms and shoulders, decent looking face so I ask him if he was looking for a simple hook up or what.  He says he was just looking to get some action and nothing serious and I weigh my options and just shrugged and decided to go with it.  He was confused about it at first but I explained that I’d never been with a guy before and I should at least try it before figuring out if I don’t like it or anything and so with that in mind we went back to his room and went all out.”

“Now when you say ‘went all out’…”  while Dash left the question open ended to be filled in he actually dreaded what his friend was going to say next, though he felt he already knew the answer.

“We fucked,” Kwan shrugged at his vulgar statement and Dash just palmed his face at the bluntness, “Well first he blew me, and that was nice enough, then I tried to blow him and he said I wasn’t bad for a first timer but that really didn’t do anything for me.  Then after a little recuperating I let him in my backdoor, he was real gentle and caring partner actually, he lubed up his fingers a lot and got me well prepped before he did anything and I got to say that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

“And I can’t help but think you’re certifiable and shameless…”

“You love me,” and Dash couldn’t help but roll his eyes fondly at his friend.

“I do, but by all means tell me more about what happened since you’ve gone this far.”

“Well while it wasn’t bad it still wasn’t really my thing, ya’know?  I mean he found that g-spot thing that guys have which I guess is the prostate and that felt good but I just didn’t like it much.  I let him finish though and he let me have a go on him and I copied a lot of what he did before I slipped on a rubber and went to town on him.  He was tighter than the girl I met during fall break and it did feel good but I honestly couldn’t get off without thinking a bit about some girls.  After that we exchanged numbers and said bye and that’s how I figured out that guys just aren’t for me.”

Dash couldn’t help but shake his head.  His friend was shameless and far too honest for his own good.

“Are you sure you’re not a… oh what’s the word?”  Dash smirked waving his hand around like he could catch the word he was thinking of.

“Pansexual?  Someone who is indiscriminate of gender or one who likes all genders?”  Kwan supplied with a honest smile on his face, “Nope, pretty sure it’s only the vagina that I enjoy.”

“I was going to say ‘idiot’ actually, but thanks so much for putting images in my head now.  You’re a real pal.”

“Anytime, Dash, anytime!”  And Dash honestly hated how he couldn’t tell if Kwan was blatantly ignoring his sarcasm or not but he let it slide because he saw a very familiar Latina walking their way.

“Dash!  Kwan!  It’s good to see you two here!  Did you come to cheer me on?”

“Well not exactly…” Kwan grinned and hugged Paulina when she got close enough, “We also came to cheer on Danny.”

“Oh, did you now…?”  Dash flinched slightly when her eyes landed on him and she walked over to him to give him a hug as well, “And is anyone going to tell me why you’re both here to cheer Danny on along with me or do I have to guess?”

“I’d like to hear some guesses… how about you, Dash?”  Kwan grinned and Dash honestly wanted to just slug him in the arm but figured it would be better to just be honest with things finally.

“You uh… remember what you said at the last meet?”  Paulina tilted her head for a second looking like she was thinking about what he was talking about before it seemed like it dawned on her and she nodded, “Well… Him.”

“‘Him’?”  Paulina questioned.

“Yeah… him and me…,” Dash shrugged and tried to fight the blush that he knew was starting to show on his ears.

She tilted her head to the other side for a moment trying to decipher what he had said before a look of realization struck her and her eyes went wide in shock.  For a moment Dash was afraid of what she was thinking but slowly a grin formed across her face and it almost looked like she was vibrating from the news.

“Oh…my… Gosh!  Dash!  That’s… This is…!  EEEEEE!”   She gave a slight squeal before she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, “Oh this is so great!  You two look so good together!  Especially now with Danny finally growing into that lanky body of his and looking like he does now… That boy has been the source of a lot of gossip in the locker rooms and many of the girls would give near anything to be able to date him.”

Hearing that instantly put Dash on the defensive and he couldn’t help the frown that crossed his face, “Well they can’t have ‘im.  He’s mine.”

“I know, Dash, I’m just gossiping,” Paulina giggled softly before turning to Kwan, “So how long have you known since he just now told me?”

“Oh I’ve known pretty much since the start,” Kwan smirked and then puffed out his chest like a rooster strutting, “I even helped Dash ask him out on their first date.”

“No!”

“Yep, had to do some pretty devious scheming to get him to do it, but it was worth it.”

Dash had to groan at that memory and how he’d humiliated himself in front of Danny all in some weird way to ‘defend his honor’ or something equally stupid he couldn’t put words to.

“So you’ve known he had a thing for Danny all this time?”

“Oh I’ve gotten to know a LOT over the summer about these two dorks in love,” Kwan rolled his eyes and Dash knew he was thinking about the ghostly stuff he had just learned last night and glared at him from the corner of his eye.

“Oh…?”  Paulina grinned like a cat with a mouse dangling right in front of her, “Such as…?”

“Kwan…”  Dash growled out.

“Well for starters, Danny has a thing for hairy guys like Coach Johnson.” Dash couldn’t fight his hand from meeting his forehead as his friend said this, “And apparently Dash has a thing for firm butts because I’ve seen him staring at Danny’s skin tight suit so hard that I’m surprised it hasn’t burst into flames.”

“Kwan!”  At that Dash punched his friend in the shoulder and felt no guilt over the pain that crossed his face.

“Ow…!”  He rubbed his shoulder but Dash just rolled his eyes, he didn’t hit him THAT hard after all.

“Well as much fun as it is seeing you two… I’ve got to go get ready for my race, I’m up for the free style 50 and 100 yards and the 50 and 100 yard breast stroke today,” She smiled and then turned to point at Kwan right as he was about to open his mouth, “Say one word and I will have your balls in a vice.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Kwan actually squeaked and Paulina leaned up and kissed his cheek before doing the same to Dash.

“Wish me luck, boys.” And with a wink she turned and walked away towards the other swimmers leaving the two young men to return to their seats further away from anyone who would hear them talk.

“I can’t believe you,” Dash grunted out as he took his seat and set his elbows on his knees, “You just love to humiliate me don’t you?”

“Love is such a strong word,” Kwan said flippantly, “I prefer to say: ‘take great enjoyment out of what is easy’.”

Not finding anything funny about what he just said, Dash felt completely justified in slugging his friend in the arm again.

“I should honestly just drag you down to the pool and shove your head under the water until the bubbles stop.”

“I’d just come back to haunt you.”  Kwan smirked

“Uhhg…!”  There was no way to not groan at that, “How is this my life?  WHY is this my life?  I mean ghosts, Kwan, Ghosts!  When we were 13 ghosts were just scary stories and then they became a weekly occurrence and now I’m learning to fight them and apparently about to go to war with some in order to keep our world safe!” 

It was terrifying and the sudden thought almost brought on what could be considered a panic attack.  There was an actual war about to happen that he was going to be a part of.  His boyfriend was a hero and fighter that had already fought battles and wars before, and it was just now starting to sink in that something like the fate of the world was depending on him winning.  Dash’s breathing was starting to come on faster and he leaned down to hold his face in his hands to try to keep calm.  It suddenly felt like everything was falling apart just as the full scope of the situation was shoved into his face.

“Hey, hey, hey…” Kwan shushed him quietly and rubbed circles on his back, “Where’d all this come from suddenly?”

“Just… we’re sitting here like normal and like nothing is going on but we both know that something huge is about to happen.  We’re still joking about things like violence and death and that could actually be in our future, Kwan.  We could actually die if things keep going the way we’re going.  I think it just like suddenly hit me and I’m actually a little terrified of it all.”

“Hey,” Kwan leaned down and looked around, “You need to get out of here?  Get some air or something?  I don’t want you to break down here if you can avoid it.”

“No… I just… I don’t know.”

“Just take some deep breaths, Dash, deep steady even breaths.” Kwan kept rubbing his back and after a minute he started to feel himself calm down.

“Thanks…” He swallowed down the tension in his frame and ran a hand through his hair noting that he’d need a haircut soon, “Dunno where that came from.”

“From worrying about the future and all the crazy crap that it entails, man,” Kwan smiled and Dash just shook his head in confusion.

“How are you not freaking out about all of this?” He was alright now but still felt his heart racing and beating hard enough that it made his chest feel too small for it.

“I think I’m still in that phase where everything feels surreal.  Like, I know and understand everything that you guys told me but at the same time I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet.  I guess I’m still waiting for someone to say ‘gotcha’ or something, but give it a few days and I’m sure I’ll be freaking out a bit too.”

“Well in that case feel free to drag me out from wherever I’m at to have a meltdown when it happens,” Dash chuckled and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze, “Thanks, man, ‘preciate it.”

With a simple nod of acceptance the teens turned back to the pool and watched as the swimmers started their heats.  Dash didn’t know much about the school that was visiting but they looked very good.  The girls especially were almost brutal in how they moved through the water, almost like they were attacking it with a personal vendetta.

It was a close race through the first half but it was during their turns that Dash saw the other team really shine.  They were quick, efficient, and wasted barely half a second before they were swimming back down.  It was clear that these girls were at the top of their team and they managed to secure first through fourth place for their school.  Paulina though managed to make it a half second later to secure fifth but still it was obvious she wasn’t happy about it.

“Wow,” Dash looked over at Kwan who turned to look at him with wide eyes, “Is that team good or does ours just suck?”

Looking at the time board Dash frowned, “They’re good.  I remember some of the times from the last meet I attended and those are some pretty good ones.”

“Think the guys will be just as good?”  Kwan asked as he looked at said boys starting to line up.

“Maybe…” And really it wasn’t hard to imagine that, “But Danny is in this first heat and he’s a strong swimmer.  They’ll have to be better than ‘good’ to be able to beat him, and most of the other guys are pretty good too so I think they have a shot here.”

“Now are you speaking from watching him swim all summer or are you just biased here?”  The smug tone in Kwan’s voice was teasing and Dash knew that so he didn’t do anything else but smile as the boys lined up for their race.

Danny was fast, Dash knew this for a fact.  What he didn’t know was anything about the guys he was racing against.  Still his boyfriend had strong arms and legs from all manner of training so that had to account for something.  He wouldn’t say that Danny was guaranteed to win first place, but if he didn’t make it in the top three he’d rip off his boxers and eat them.

Once they lined up on the blocks Dash kept his eyes glued on Danny.  He took in his form, how he was breathing, every detail he watched and studied to try to get an idea of how he was feeling.  After everything that had happened last night Dash thought that Danny might have some issues and be stressed, but from what Dash could see he seemed perfectly calm and at ease with everything.

‘Must find swimming to be relaxing even if he is competing.’

At the sound of the whistle the boys all dove right in.  At first some guy in a blue cap was ahead of everyone but Dash saw that Danny and several of the other swimmers from their school were maintaining a close distance between them.  It was at the turn that things changed for their team though.  Danny was quick and took almost no time in twisting around and heading back to the start.  Combined with his already strong strokes and he quickly took the lead with several of the other team members close behind.

“YEAH!”  Dash shouted among the roar of the crowd, “See that?  Doesn’t matter how fast you can swim if you can’t make your turns fast too!  That one guy might have been a fast swimmer but if the others can’t beat Danny or the rest in their turns then there’s no way they’ll lose!”

“Huh, I see what you mean,” Kwan looked down at the pool thoughtfully, “But this is also the first race isn’t it?  That means they likely won’t put all their best swimmers here.  This could just be a warm up for them.”

“Oh shut up and cheer on our team.”  Dash rolled his eyes and went back to see Danny taking first place with some kid in a green cap taking second.  The next guy wasn’t from their school but the fourth one was and from there it really didn’t matter to Dash all that much.  Really he only cared about Danny getting first and even how their school placed overall didn’t matter much to him.

“A strong swimmer indeed,” Kwan smirked over at Dash, “But how is he in endurance?  I mean I hope he has good endurance.  I’d hate that you fell for a guy that couldn’t keep going for more than a little bit.”

The smirk on his friend’s face told him more than he wanted to know about what he was asking and Dash had to grab onto his knees to keep them from reaching around his friend’s thick neck.

“Kwan…” Dash took a deep breath and glared at him, “If you don’t stop with those stupid jokes I am going to drag you down to the water and hold your head down until the bubbles stop.”

“Again: I’d just come back and haunt you,” Kwan smiled back not even deeming to take that threat seriously.

“And I am certain that you would, and yeah he does have pretty great endurance to answer your question even though I know you were just asking to tease me.”

“Guilty.”

The next several races were much closer in terms of times.  The girls managed to win a few more of their heats and the boys managed to maintain a solid streak with at least three of their swimmers coming in the top five.  Danny himself managed to actually place first in the 200 free and second in the 200 fly and Dash couldn’t have been more pumped about how well he was doing.  He cheered loud when Danny swam and Kwan had to at one point actually remind him to calm down a bit.

“So that’s it for the regular races right?”  Kwan looked at the sheet that told everyone who would be swimming what, “What’s this IM stuff?”

“It stands for the Individual Medley,” Dash explained and looked at the paper to see Danny was going to do both the 200 yard IM and the 400 yard Relay, “It means that the swimmer will have to do the fly stroke and then the back, breast, and free in that order.  The relay will start with the backstroke then the breast, butterfly, and free style at the end.  Danny will be doing the free style for this one.”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” Kwan observed, “Think he’ll be able to do it?”

“I know he will.”  Dash smirked and watched as everyone went to get water and use the bathroom or whatever.  The next races wouldn’t start for another 20 minutes so some of the swimmers were even taking the break to eat a granola bar.

Everything was going well until Dash saw Adam talking and being a bit too friendly with Danny again.  Danny himself looked very annoyed and after a minute moved to go talk to that red head swimmer Dash had met before.

‘Eric I think…’ Dash thought absentmindedly before he turned to glare at Adam again.  That guy was nothing short of a sleazy ball of gunk to him and Dash had found himself drawing very unflattering things with him as the subject when he got upset.  It was a strange stress relief and it made him feel better sometimes, but seeing this guy now stare at his boyfriend’s lycra covered butt he knew he’d have to take out his aggression in a more physical way later.

“When we get back to Danny’s place you wanna spar for a bit?  Maybe wrestle some?”

“Huh?”  Kwan looked at him confused and he didn’t blame him for the random question, “I guess not, but I thought I might try some weapons out and see how I do with that.” 

Dash didn’t answer that and saw Kwan studying the look on his face before turning to look at what he was looking at.

“Who’s the guy with the brown hair that you keep glaring at like you want to set him on fire?”

“Adam something,”  Dash scoffed like the name left a bad taste in his mouth, “He is too friendly with Danny and keeps trying to be ‘charming’ and ‘friendly’ with him… Bastard.  I saw him slap Danny on the butt at his first meet and I know he coped a feel there.”

“Wow… and the reason he still hasn’t had his shoulder dislocated yet is…?”

“Danny said he’d handle it and I trust him.  Plus I don’t technically have a reason to go around and defend him like that,” and that made Dash even more mad when he thought about it.

Thoughts of coming out circled around his head again and Dash wished he could figure out if coming out was worth it or not.  There wasn’t any blatant homophobia around that he’d heard of, but it could have been just as simple a matter as ‘so long as it’s not around it’s fine’.  It could ruin his standing in his sports teams, he could face being ostracized by most of his teammates and friends, and all of this was only taking into account school.  There was still his home life to think about.

He honestly had no idea how his parents would react to him being gay.  His mother often asked about when he was going to get a girlfriend and Dash honestly didn’t know how to answer that. 

At least things with his dad were easier.  The man didn’t comment about such things and was happy with whatever Dash decided to do.  He was even happy with Dash’s desire to pursue art as a possible career one day.  There was just no real pressure from his dad in a way that he just didn’t always feel around his mom.  His dad might not even care about his sexuality but he still wasn’t ready to take that risk just yet, and that still didn’t help with how his mom would feel about it.

“You ok?”  Kwan looked at him from beside him, concern written clearly in his features.

“Just bad thoughts.  Need to get my mind off of things and work off some energy later.”

“If you say so man, just know I’m here if you need to talk.”

“Thanks, I’m gonna go talk to Danny for a bit and see how he’s doing.  This is the first time he’s taken on this many heats at once.”

“You do that then, I’m going to get a coke myself.”

With that done Dash made his way down from the stand and walked over to Danny who was chatting with that red haired ‘acquaintance’ of his.  It made him smile to see him making friends on his team and every time he saw Danny around him or any of the others guys he made sure to gently rib at how he was making friends when he didn’t expect to.

“Hey, Danny, and… Eric, right?  Nice job out there.  You did great.”

“Dash!  Hey yeah,” Danny grinned and the other nodded to his question, “We’re doing great, but I’m a bit nervous about the Individual Medley after everything I’ve done today but I’m still pretty confident in it.”

“You don’t have to worry, Dan-o,” Eric pat him on the shoulder, “You, Adam, Paul, and Dex are doing the IM and you all are like our top swimmers!  Not to mention that I’ll be in the relay with you and the breaststroke is my best so we just about got this.”

“Bit early to be thinking that, Eric, but thanks.  I’m gonna go walk around a bit and loosen up for the next events.  Be back in a bit.”

With a short wave Danny grabbed his towel and joined Dash.  They walked around for a bit in comfortable silence until Danny sighed and rubbed at his face.  He looked tired but not in a way that Dash would contribute to fatigue.  It looked more like he was stressed and was hitting a breaking point.  It was also something that made Dash want to just hug him tight and not let go.

“What’s wrong?”  He asked instead and pulled him off towards the halls that lead to the lockers.

“What makes you think-“ Dash gave him a look that he hoped translated to mean that he wasn’t an idiot and was almost glad when Danny stopped and sighed before he slumped against a wall until he was sitting on the ground, “Ok so I’m not… ok, but it’s nothing.”

“Yeah, it’s nothing and that’s why you look like you’ve got more on your mind than any guy our age should,” Dash rolled his eyes as he sat next to him and then nudged his boyfriend’s shoulder, “C’mon, talk to me here.  You were looking fine earlier.”

“It’s just all starting to pile on… A huge invasion might be right around the corner and it’s just now sort of hitting me that things are going to probably get bad soon.  There’s going to be a lot of fighting and people I know might get hurt.  Friends of mine might die, my parents could die,” he turned to look at Dash and there was a look of almost pure terror in his blue eyes, “You could die, Dash.”

And that was all it took for Dash to pull him into an awkward hug.  Damn being in public, damn anyone who might see this, and damn whatever they might think from it.  His boyfriend was not going to be allowed to think such dark things without some kind of comfort from him if he could help it and the rest of the world could screw itself if they judged him for it right now.

“I know you’re scared, Danny, but I’m not gonna sit behind while you go out and fight for your life and all of us.  I want to fight with you and that’s why I’m trying to learn and train so much so that I can actually help you when this big threat finally starts.”

“I know, Dash, I know,” Danny muttered with his face pressed into his chest, “It’s just… It’s been years since something this big actually happened and last time was hard enough and that was just one ghost with an undead army.  This time… it seems like it’s a ton of sentient ghosts with all sorts of powers and I think we’re outmatched in a lot of ways here.”

“We’ll figure something out,” though in all honesty Dash had no idea how they could.  It all sounded impossible and something that was so far beyond them that it was almost laughable if it hadn’t been for the intense seriousness of the situation.

“I sure hope so…” Danny sighed and pulled back.  Dash watched him rub his face a bit and then huff out a breath of air before he stood back up and shook his head like he was trying to get rid off all the bad thoughts that clung to him like water.

“Okay.  Yeah, that is enough of that.  I think I’m good now.”  He smiled and looked down at him for a moment with a bright smile across his face that made his heart beat just a little bit faster and his face heat up just a bit, “Thanks, Dash, I really needed that.”

“Anytime,” He smiled back and hoped that he didn’t look as stupidly happy as he felt now.

“I’m gonna head to the bathroom real fast and then get back to the pool so I’ll see you after everything’s done,” and with a simple wave he walked off leaving Dash feeling a lot of things all at once.  Instead of sitting there on the cold linoleum floor and letting his butt get sore while he figured things out though he thought he should probably move.  The problem however was that he just couldn’t help but think of all the worries Danny had and the doubts that came with them.  The upcoming battles, the threat of death, the injuries that were sure to come, it was all swirling around in Dash’s mind now and it made a heavy feeling settle in his stomach for a moment.

“Need to listen to myself,” he took a deep breath and gently smacked his cheeks to snap himself out of the funk he had fallen into, “We’ll figure something out.  Between the Fentons and that Vlad guy we’ve got plenty of smart people to make plans and even some of those ghosts seem capable of stuff that’ll help.  We’ll find a way.”

Nodding to himself he stood up and rubbed the cold feeling out of his back pockets before he went to get a drink of water from a nearby fountain.  As he finished he heard his phone ringing and quickly pulled it out to see the words ‘Fenton Works’ flashing across his screen.  A bit confused as to why someone would be calling him from the Fenton Household he swiped his thumb and answered.

“Hello?”

“Dash, sorry to bother you while you’re watching Danny and everything but I thought it best to call you.”  Mrs. Fenton spoke up from the end of the line.

“It’s fine, the meet is taking a break right now anyway and I just got done talking to Danny before he had to go back to his team.”

“That’s good,” she let out a soft chuckle and Dash could just imagine the soft smile that was on her face and how fond she must look thinking about her son, “How are they doing?”

“The team overall is doing well, Danny’s doing great and has a few more heats to do before he’s done.  I am pretty sure he’s going to be exhausted when he gets home though, so I don’t think he’ll be up for making dinner tonight.”

“Oh that’s good to hear and not a problem about dinner.  We’ll order out, maybe some Indian food,” she made a thoughtful humming noise, “I have been having a craving for curry rice lately, but that’s not why I called.  You boys are planning on coming straight home, right?”

“Well we hadn’t made any plans otherwise, but I suppose we can…” dread started to well up inside Dash at the question and he frowned thinking about why she would ask, “Why is everything alright?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, yes everything is fine.  One of the ghosts though stopped by a short while ago and said he needed to talk to us before he left to go gather up a few things.  He’ll be back soon and we thought Danny would prefer to be around to ask questions and learn anything that he can.  Vlad is also going to be stopping by soon and hopefully we can brainstorm a few things.”

“Ok so you just need us to come back there as soon as he’s done.  I think that’ll be fine I’ll pass the message along to him, though…”  he made a thoughtful noise and tilted his head in thought for a moment, “There a reason you didn’t just call him directly?”

“I just didn’t want to add any anxiety to his already full plate is all, Dash, don’t worry.  You boys just be sure to come right home.  I’ll even order a couple of pizzas and have them waiting for you all when you get here.”

“Sounds good, Mrs. Fenton,” Dash suddenly heard someone on the intercoms announcing for all swimmers to get back to the pool and started to head that way himself, “I’ve gotta go now, they’re about to start again.”

“Alright then, you have fun and cheer on Danny hard for us.”

“Will do.” And with that he hung up and walked back into the pool house.  He was curious about what might have been discovered but at the same time he dreaded any news at this point.  Good news could be anything really; like the Insectis ghosts weren’t really that strong or their numbers were small, but small could mean anywhere from a dozen to a thousand or more in the grand scheme of things.  Likewise bad news was only worse; their army was beyond measurable, they had numerous weapons of all shapes and sizes, they were starting to move out early.  No matter what he thought up, Dash couldn’t shake the dread of any news being ultimately bad.

“You ok?”  Kwan asked with a coke in his hand as he sat down next to him.

“Not sure,” he sighed and leaned back against the stands, “Mrs. Fenton wants us to come home as soon as Danny’s done with his meet here. Something about a ghost with info on things apparently.”

“Well that’s good isn’t it?  Any information on the enemy is useful and even if it’s something bad they can at least then plan a way to work with it.  Maybe work in some sneak attacks or something.”

“I guess.”  Dash let out a deep sigh and looked out at the pool as the swimmers started to get ready for the Individual Medley with the girls stretching out and warming up for it.  He stared out at the pool for a moment just watching them aimlessly when he suddenly felt eyes on him and he turned to see Kwan grinning at him.  Knowing that his friend had just thought of something he weighed his options before he just sighed and decided to get it over with.

“What…?”

“You said Mrs. Fenton wants us to come home…”  His grin got wider and Dash had to wonder what that meant.   It didn’t sound like an innuendo but then again Kwan, he had learned, seemed to have a very dirty mind at times.

“Yeah… And…?”

“You think of Fenton’s place as home now.”  And with that comment Dash felt his heart about bust and shoot all the blood to his face, “Oh my GOD, Dash…!  This is so adorable!  I’m going to have to make some shipping buttons for you guys!  What sounds better Bax-Ton or Fen-Ter?  No maybe Da F.B.?  Nah that’s dumb.  I guess I could use your middle names but I don’t know his.  I kind of like Bax-Ton, just sounds better, ya’know?”

“No… I don’t…”  Dash groaned and shook his head as he felt a headache starting.  He had no idea how to even handle such blatant support for his relationship with Danny and the slight teasing but still serious tone made him feel a bit better about having to go to Fenton Works now.

With the mood lightened by his friend’s teasing they both turned towards the pool and watched as Danny swam for the boys’ 200 Individual Medley.  He started strong with the butterfly stroke pulling a good lead ahead, but the other team’s swimmers weren’t far behind and the backstroke soon took him out of first and put him into 4th.  Dash cheered and shouted as Danny swam but frowned when he saw him falling further behind as the next turn and moving into the breaststroke.

“He’s not doing so hot now…” Kwan groaned and Dash couldn’t help but agree though it didn’t stop his shouts of encouragement.  He watched as he swam barely maintaining his place in 5th when he hit the final turn and started to go into the freestyle swim.  That was when things really turned around and he started to go full out.

Danny held nothing back in the final lap and for a split second Dash was speechless to what he was seeing.  He was cutting through the water like one of the otters he liked so much and it was amazing.  His strokes were fast, powerful, and still graceful enough to offer the bare minimum of resistance and Dash couldn’t help but cheer even louder at seeing him move.  The whole crowd seemed to be on the same page as many others started to shout out encouragement towards the swimmers and when Danny managed to catch up Dash thought for a moment that his voice was going to give out from his yells.

“YOU CAN DO IT, FENTON, C’MON!”  He shouted loudly with Kwan at his side and when he finally hit the block the whole crowd erupted into cheers at seeing how Casper had managed to do.  Danny had miraculously managed to pull into first with a swimmer from the other team pulling a close second but still the next three swimmers also came from Casper.  The majority of them had fallen behind but it was in the final lap that they somehow managed to gain a major lead.  It was amazing and Dash just had to fall back onto the bleachers panting hard like it had been him that had swam that race.

“Holy cow… That was…”

“Yeah,” Kwan laughed a bit breathlessly himself as he sat back down.

“I mean did you see how-?”

“Yeah, man, and the way he-“

“I know, dude!  I mean just… Whoa.”

Honestly neither of them could form complete thoughts from the turn of events.  It was a spectacle and honestly Dash felt so many emotions that he just couldn’t get them out.  Pride, excitement, joy, and the thrill of victory all clashed together into a mess of emotions that he had no words to describe.  There were just no words to describe how amazing of a turn of events that was and it just left Dash feeling beyond words.

“That guy,” Kwan laughed a bit, “He sure is something else isn’t he?”

“He really is,” Dash agreed and couldn’t bring himself to hide the fondness that coated his tone like a balm from escaping him.

The next events were not as intense to Dash nor were they as exciting.  Not only did Danny not participate in any of them but none of the swimmers in them managed to pull such a victory after falling so far behind.  Casper’s team still won several places and times in them of course and he cheered loudly when they did and for the swimmers, but it just wasn’t as big an issue for him until the final even came up and Danny was up again.

“So Danny is swimming the freestyle for this one, right?  That means he’ll go last.”  Dash nodded to Kwan’s question and watched as Danny and Eric stretched out and got ready for the event in their lane.  He also saw another swimmer with dark brown skin behind them and unfortunately Adam was also with them to round out the four man relay.  Just seeing him near Danny made him feel like his eyes would start to glow green and it certainly didn’t help when he saw him looking at Danny’s legs like a starving man would look at a steak.

‘I can’t kill him, I can’t kill him, I can’t kill him,’ Dash growled out in his mind for a moment before he felt even angrier when he saw him licking his lips, ‘I shouldn’t kill him, I shouldn’t kill him…!’

“So…”  Dash cast a look at Kwan and saw that his friend looked uncharacteristically serious, “Do we go for quick and painless or do you want him to suffer?”

“Don’t tempt me, Kwan, I’m a teenage male full of testosterone and access to experimental weaponry I don’t need more of those thoughts already.”

“Just sayin’…”  He shrugged casually, “The guy’s a creep… I’ll ask around about him see what he’s really like, though, maybe he’s just all show.”

Really Dash just felt like he had to ignore these things and what Kwan wanted to do wasn’t necessary.  Still another part of him wanted the reassurance that this guy wasn’t a threat and was just nothing but show.  Regardless it was a matter for later and right now the last race was about to start.

After a moment the swimmers started to get ready.  The dark skinned guy got into the pool and Eric stood on the block ready to dive in when he came back.  That left Adam to swim the butterfly and Danny behind him which Dash found himself to be low-key grateful for since that meant the creep couldn’t check out and stare at his boyfriend’s butt.

‘Not like I’m one to really talk but damn-it I’m allowed to look at that piece of art he’s got.’

To interrupt his thoughts the signal for the race to start blared out across the pool house followed by the sounds of splashing as the swimmers started their strokes.  Whoever that guy was in Danny’s lane was pretty good and managed to keep up with the rest of the swimmers up until they hit the end of the pool and started to turn back.  From there he managed to maintain a spot in 4th place until he hit the end and let Eric take his turn.

Unfortunately for them though the other lanes’ swimmers that had already gone ahead also seemed to good at the breast stroke.  He was quickly falling behind them but Eric plowed on even as other swimmers started to overtake him and push him into 7th place.

“Man, that guy isn’t doing so hot…” Kwan frowned and leaned forward as everyone cheered on the swimmers.

“He’s not… but hopefully he can make it up at the turns,” and from what Dash was seeing it seemed possible.  The first guy that had reached the end had stumbled a bit and didn’t complete his turn as fast as he’d seen others do.  That had cost him a couple seconds and actually took him out of the lead.  If Dash was to guess he would have bet on the first swimmers being best to gain an early lead in case something like this was to happen.  While a good strategy for such an endeavor Dash saw that it wasn’t as helpful here and that was allowing Eric a bit more of a chance to pick up the pace.

“That guy’s pretty good at this stroke.  Then again he’s got pretty big pecs so I guess that helps.”

“His name’s Eric,” and while he had no idea if his chest was a result of being good at this stroke or not, Dash couldn’t deny that his friend had a point.  It was something to ask about later if he remembered.

By the time Eric reached the other end of the pool again he managed to put his lane into 5th again and as soon as he hit the block, Adam dove right in.  Watching him swim Dash hated to admit it but from the way he moved he could see why he was the captain of the boys’ team.  His strokes with the butterfly were quick and powerful pushing the water back and moving fast enough to gain second place for them.  Even in his turns he didn’t slow down and he maintained a solid second place, but he just couldn’t seem to catch up and the free style swim was something Dash knew to be for the fastest swimmers.  That was further proven when the other team managed to hit the block and their final swimmer dove right in.

Only a second or so later and Adam was at the block and Danny was diving in but already he’d fallen further behind the other guy.  He was fast and his strokes were strong.  If ever the phrase ‘swim like a fish’ were to be applied to anyone it would be this guy.  Danny was going all out but the lead the other guy had just didn’t seem to be gaining any ground, in fact he seemed to be losing it as the other guy pulled on ahead.

“C’mon, Danny…”  Dash muttered out as he sat on the edge of his seat.  He knew things looked bad but he just couldn’t let himself feel like it was over until it was over.  It might have been his own jock mentality that had been ingrained into him from years of sports or maybe it was his belief that Danny actually could somehow manage this.  Either way he just continued to watch anxiously as they finally came to the last turn of the race.

As soon as Danny made his turn things changed.  Whatever Dash thought Danny might have done went right out the window of his mind as he saw him suddenly going full out with more speed than he had ever seen him.  He was a machine, moving his arms and kicking as hard as he could and literally holding nothing back in this race.  It was like he was possessed and his determination to win pushed him to go beyond his limits.  Dash knew he had to be tired from all the races he’d done today, he knew he was likely exhausted, but seeing Danny go all out like this made it seem like he still had plenty left in his reserves.  That did nothing, however, to stop Dash from joining the crowd that was starting to cheer and shout for him as he started to catch up with his opponent.

“GO, DANNY!”  He cheered loudly and watched as he made up the distance and managed to catch up to his opponent’s waist and continue on.  It was amazing and honestly Dash wanted to say he was surprised but he knew that Danny had more in him than what was on the surface better than anyone.  There was no doubt in his mind that he could push past his limits with determined ferocity  to accomplish whatever he wanted to get done.

“Holy crap!”  Kwan shook him and pointed out at the pool like he wasn’t already focusing on it already, “Holy crap, Dash!  He’s almost caught up!”

Dash could only nod and bite down on his lip as he kept watching.  Danny was pulling forward more now and he was going full out.  It was impressive and clearly everyone around them thought so too.  People were screaming encouragement and the members of the team were shouting for their teammates to keep going.

It quickly became a neck-to-neck race with Danny swimming right next to the other guy.  Each swimmer was giving it their all and honestly Dash couldn’t tell who was going to win as they got closer to their blocks.  He held his breath and felt himself finally tense up as they both got to the end, it was too close for him to tell from his seat but it looked like the referee had seen who won and was writing down all the times as the rest of the swimmers finished.

Everyone watched the ref now quietly as he finished writing things down.  It was too close for anyone to tell who had won from their angle so just waited as the anticipation continued to build. 

Finally the ref walked over to the board where they posted all the times and the person in charge started to enter them into the laptop that controlled it.  The first few lanes weren’t that big a deal to everyone, the swimmers in those lanes had come in after Danny and that one guy so it was obvious what they had placed.  When the times for the one guy and Danny came up though Dash couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  He leaned forward and for a moment everything seemed to fade away before he felt himself start to grin against his will.  He couldn’t believe it and for a second it seemed like no one else could either, but after seeing the results on the board for a moment longer everyone started to cheer and the swim teams started to whoop and holler like they had won a gold medal.

“I can’t believe it,” Kwan spoke with a mixture of awe and giddy excitement, “I mean just… wow!”

And Dash couldn’t fault him for it, because right there on the board were the times for Danny and his opponent with only a half second difference between them with Danny as the winner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to point out here that Kwan is straight. He strictly is sexually attracted to girls but has no problem getting off with a guy if he's allowed. He also thinks labeling attraction is stupid but understands that it is helpful for some people.  
> All that being said though I love writing Kwan like this, it's just always fun and humorous.


End file.
